Taken In Again
by Andrea Churchill
Summary: The league sets out with new missions and new adventures, and oh yeah! A new member who is a witch, and very sarcastic, powerful, and prideful. Crazy loves brew, and in the end...is a lesson of escape the witch could have never expected.
1. A New Beginning

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

The water of the Indian Ocean discovered ripples and waves growing more and more, as it is passed by. A ship appears, infiltrating the water, as hundreds of men work for a man and his league, which search to explore as a sense of their own past fades away. Captain Nemo, the futuristic man of the past, who has the ability to invent ingenious devices, walks the halls of the Nautilus, signaling his new first mate Patel (after his last first mate, Ishmael faced a dreadful death from the cause of a betrayer from their last mission), that significant futuristic plans for the league would be currently delayed besides the assistance of exploring the ocean. It has been about a week since the death of the Great White Hunter, Allan Quatermain, and Dorian Grey, the immortal and Mina's past lover; and all whose have suffered to forget still live the memory and the dream of being a league, a family.

Being handed a slip of paper from his first mate, Nemo gave a glance at Patel, the paper, then Patel once again, and walked around the working crewmen to his league, already seated in the dining room.

The remnants of the league; Rodney Skinner, Tom Sawyer, Mina Harker, and Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde all waited, scattered around the table packed with varieties of seafood fresh from the Atlantic Ocean. At a fast-pace the captain entered the room, giving his "Good afternoon" to his fellow men, and woman, being received a diversity of replies. Once all the members were together, the league, all but except Nemo had begun to dig into the mass of food remaining on the table. Slowly unfolding the message, the man's eyes increasingly began to widen, and looked up to the group that craved the dinner they ate. Mina became the first to take notice on the captain's expression.

"Anything wrong?"

"It appears the Nautilus had received a message. It is from England; a man named Campion Bond."

Rodney Skinner looked up with his pure white face. "Well, what's it say then? Someone else want to fool us into their trap for world destruction?"

"I'm not exactly sure what it means…listen to this. It reads:

_To The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,_

_The British Empire has taken a fine notice on the work you all succeeded with the man Professor James Moriarty, better known as M. We are all very sorry for the loss of the legendary Allan Quartermain, in which many great deeds were done in that name. I must request, if interested, to continue in your work and convene with me in the headquarters of the secret annex of the British Museum as early as possible, in order to discuss the next part in your career as agents of the British Empire. Please find my contact at once after you have received this message._

_Your advisor, _

_Agent Campion Bond._" Captain Nemo looked back up at the league, all faces perplexed.

"…Huh?" This came from Tom.

"Sounds like they want us to do some other mission. You know, '_In order to discuss the next part in your career as agents of the British Empire'_." Skinner said.

Mina looked baffled. "Well, what do we do? Do we go?"

"I don't know. It could be another trap, like the other mission." Tom stated, his eyes hardening at the memory.

Nemo's eyes never lay of the message. As the league argued whether to go or not, his face aged; showed the old lines and wrinkles of a tired man taking in all.

"I say we go." The league all stared at him.

"What?"

"We all have special abilities that are clearly needed for aid in the British Government. We've overcome Moriarty before, and I believe we could anyone else if it comes to it."

Tom considered disagreeing. "Yeah, but…what if we lose someone else?"

Nemo looked down at the message as all faces gloomed to the memory of Allan Quatermain's death. Tom, out of everyone, attached with Allan the most, so it wasn't a shock that he would grieve over it the largest.

Mina's eyes toughened at the table. "I still feel that we should check it out. Lives could be in danger."

After their past mission of saving many women, children and the scientists from Moriarty's force, most of the cabins were occupied by the dazed captives. Being they could hardly speak any English and only their native German, it was hard to communicate with them. The _Nautilus_ was, at the moment, on their way to Germany with the purpose of liberating them.

Dr. Jekyll checked his pocket watch, fidgeting with the precious thing in a somewhat inconspicuous way to talk with his alter ego Edward Hyde.

"I'm in." he sighed.

Tom's face grieved more and more as the possibility sank into the room.

"It's gonna be too dangerous!"

Rodney Skinner turned his chair to face the American. "Sure it will. We get into danger all the time, it's what we do…I mean look at us!"

Tom looked at the properly dressed Henry, the lovely gowned Mina, the dutiful clothed Nemo, and his casual decent self.

"All right well look at me."

Tom smirked at the rogue's remark, then quickly disappearing. "Alright, I see your point. But we defeated Moriarty with six members, un-including Grey…" Mina's face raged at the thought of her past lover, who was for a time reunited, only to betray the league. Being only a set up, love seemed to be calm for the charming vampire.

"He's right. Five members might not be enough this time." Henry's eyes never lay off the pocket watch.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out." Mina said, graciously laying her hand atop Tom's shoulder.

Looking up to her, he seemed to bury his words into his hands, judging over his decision carefully. Hard enough to say no to Mina, the slight pressure of the league's decision, plus the progressively hard memory of Mongolia's memories, he simply nodded, and Nemo straightened his posture.

"So it's set." Calling for Patel, he gave him the notion to respond to Mr. Campion Bond; to assure him the league will make an effort to have a congregation in a few days.

_Later—about 10:30 pm._

Tom laid on top his bed, tossing and turning under the sheets.

"_Remember the flare…I'm off!"_

"_What?"_

"_Don't forget, you're the target!"_

_The memory of Italy's buildings falling dangerously close to the automobile; the pressure of saving the day upon him spread._

"_And Sawyer?"_

"_He'll live to fight another day."_

_The touch of Mina's warm hand upon his cheek…_

"_Don't worry…I've had my full of throats for this evening." _

_Waiting in the cold of the Mongolian cave came into view of Tom's mind. Then flashbacks of the fall of the Great White Hunter and the killing of Professor James Moriarty. _

"_Let this new century be yours son…as the old one…was mine."_

_Standing over the corpse of his father figure in the African heat, saying goodbye for the last time, placing his Matilda atop his grave…_

"_Thanks."_

_The face of Allan Quatermain haunted Tom's mind…walking away from the grave…the pain of the dagger sent through his back…faster now…more and more images, bigger and bigger…clearer and clearer now…so real its as if he existed in the very room…_

"Oh!" Tom woke up startled, sweat beading down his forehead. Getting up, he went into the small bathroom attached to his cabin. He turned on the faucet, and water cold as ice poured out, making its way into Tom's cupping hands and splashing his face. He traumatized at the icy water. He looked into the mirror, and saw not the young American face and the wispy blonde hairs, but the wrinkled lines and aged creases in the face of Allan Quatermain. He sighed. It's going to be a long night.

_Not too far away_

Dr. Henry Jekyll anxiously walked about his cabin, fidgeting with his pocket watch…yet again. He mumbled to himself as he paced frantically, really.

"This mission...I don't want to have to let you out, you will never use me again! And like Grey has said, then what use am I? Do they want you all the time? No, of course they don't. That's what I'm for. I'm a shell; your protection. I'm no use. The only use I am is when I'm helping out in the infirmary. And what respect do I get out of that? They ask for you, which is all they want…your strength. I'm losing control…"

_Oh people don't respect you? Do they, now? What about the vampiress? Does she respect you? I know you feel for her, Henry. Everyone knows…_

"No they don't. Tom and Rodney like her…well, Rodney would like _anyone_ who is as lovely as Mina, but Tom definitely has feelings for her, I know it. And she knows it too. _That's _obvious."

_Come on Henry…make a move. She wants us Henry…I can tell…Let me out…I told you once, I don't have to tell you again…she may barely look at you but she'd look at me…come on Henry…do it for Mina…_

As the brute rambled on, the doctors eyes shifted from his pocket watch to his case of formulas, where his evil led him on. Slowly making his way to the box, he opened it slowly and met the small shiny, metal lock, reflecting the Edward's face.

_Let me out…_

Unlike last time, all vials were perfectly aligned and _there_. Henry took one out dead smack in the middle of the case, and held it carefully, being cautious not to drop it, and feeling the smoothness of it. Edward drifted on…the pressure rising. He released the cork of the bottle and…

A knock was heard at the door.

"Dr. Jekyll, are you in there? One of the German patients is in need of your service."

With a sigh, he corked the vial, gently placed it back in the case, and greeted Captain Nemo with a smile before closing the door behind him.


	2. Having a Ball

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

Germany wasn't too far off…the coast of Nordfriesland; one of Germany's districts was to be the port of call as the Nautilus made its way through the North Sea. The league had just made it past the straights of Dover when Rodney Skinner shut the water tight door to the deck with a bang, only to see Tom Sawyer staring out into the open sea.

"Hiya, Tom." The rogue made his invisible way toward the agent's side.

He gave no response, just looked over to the transparent face, gave a smile, and turned his head back to the horizon.

"So…ready to find out what this new mission thing is all about?"

Tom didn't speak, turn, flinch nor blink.

Rodney shifted his position. He slowly made way into his conclusion, not wanting to hurt his American friend.

"Your thinkin' bout the chap, aren't you?"

Tom's head bowed, and then turned to Rodney.

"Yeah, I am. I really do miss 'em…he was like a father-figure to me, 'ya know?"

"Yeah…we all miss 'em."

Silence lasted between the two as they gazed out against the sunset, releasing the new morning sun to arise.

_The Next Day…about 5p.m…the arrival at Germany_

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sauntered off the platform that connected the Nautilus and the German grounds. First Captain Nemo, then Mina Harker, Rodney Skinner, Tom Sawyer, and lastly Henry Jekyll. They all formed as a group, swaying to the side of the passage as Nemo's men motioned for the men, women and children to slowly and cautiously come off the raised area. Tom shifted a little into the ports, taking in the dealing of the merchants and trade sellers. As Patel motioned for the other crew members to find information on their passengers as to the location of their residence, of those who didn't insisted their way through the German streets. Thanking the league, they departed, and they all stood there, awing their success from their last mission. Captain Nemo was the first to speak out.

"Well, are we all ready for England?"

Tom, obviously the one who wasn't yet ready for a new mission, too much in the living of fear for the death of his comrades noticed a small sign on a post standing on the merchant docks, where a few people stood around it, indicating exciting gestures to each other.

"Hey, what's this?"

He made his way to the small white sign, indicating a German invitation:

_Der jährliche deutsche Maskerade-Ball wird in diesem Jahr am 19. September 1899 gehalten. Alle eingeladenen Parteien. Gesellschaftskleidung ist erforderlich._

"What does it say?" asked the curious American agent.

Captain Nemo motioned to a German merchant, apparently a vendor through the fish market. Asking if he spoke English, he nodded, and asked for a translation to the sign.

In a thick German accent, he spoke "That is the sign for the annual Masquerade ball. Germany hosts one every year at the Kupergrafben gallery.

"Hey, a masquerade ball! We should go!" Tom said extravagantly, excited for an excuse to put off going to England.

The league all looked at each other.

Mina approached the fish merchant. "When is it?"

"Why, it's tonight! At eight o'clock!"

Once again the league looked around for any notionable facial expressions.

"C'mon we should go! It'll be fun…a night to celebrate before heading out to England!" Tom tried to sound convincing.

"I'm in." encouraged Rodney, half-helping his friend, the other half wanting to enjoy a party full of dancing, drinking, flirting and celebrating…

The rest of the league; Mina, Henry, and Nemo all gave weak sighs, giving into the arrangement.

_Even later…8p.m…The Masquerade Ball_

Tom Sawyer walked by the gallery, the outside packed with people trying to push their way through to the party. He notices some attractive women he had the desire to dance with, winking and giving flirtatious eye contact with him, that is until he heard a strange noise.

Looking over, Tom noticed a medium sized, black curly-haired dog barking and holding its ground against him. A few people took notice in the stray, but found it to be at best to ignore it. So Tom, like the others, went along to the festivity.

Inside, the west side of the room was occupied by a stage, where several musicians played a frenzy of classical music. The room was big and bright, where all the walls were painted a toned ivory color, and several laced decorations were hung from the ceiling, accompanied by numerous chandeliers.

The gallery was packed with everyone from all around the country, and even the interesting minority who came to experience the party who dwelled from other lands, including the league.

Having all recently bought masquerade masks that night, all members of the league were dressed formally for the occasion.

Captain Nemo wore his normal blue-armored suit, only tonight he added on his dark blue mask with silver accents on the top resembling his turban in order to match his attire, and a dark blue formal jacket, standing over by the north wall taking conversation. Mina Harker wore a dark red lace dress with black trimmings, and a golden mask with red feathers emerging from the crown. She stood near the stage, observing the musicians and take note on the beauty of the music, which is until she was asked to dance. Tom Sawyer wore a brown suit, casually tidy for his style, and accompanied by a silver mask with a pointed nose and fine detail across the top. He made his way over to the group of women he spotted earlier and began some small talk, and of course the occasional dancing. Rodney Skinner, a little more unusual than the other guests…_as_ usual, he wore a plain, slick black suit. He did not wear a mask but only his painted white face and black specs, for he could not come across a mask that covered his eyes. Surely one would question as to why he had no eyes, he stood in the south-west corner, taking in the atmosphere. And last but not least…Henry Jekyll wore a black, but old vintage suit, and a mask, resembling his two halves, with the design of half black and half white.

As the league arrived one by one, not all together, the night took the form of suspense for, unintentionally no one knew who anyone was. Henry, obviously coming off as shy, made his way over to the north wall and stood around, playing with his pocket watch.

As the ball began to start the first dance, the _Military Scottische _began to come into form. A young woman approached Henry; she was of good height and weight, wearing a long dark red dress and a dark red glittered mask. She had golden brown hair and deep set, green-hazel eyes.

Henry seemed surprised. He lifted his head, closed his trinket, and gave the woman a soft smile. They made their way to the dance floor, among all the other dancers. The woman was a fairly good dancer, making a few mistakes however. She seemed to be in her early twenties; very young and polite.

_"Ich bin Charlotte übrigens."_

"Um…"

"Oh," said the woman in a thick German accent. "Do you not speak German? I'm sorry; I said my name is Charlotte."

Smiling, the doctor introduced himself courteously. "Henry."

"Well, Henry, please don't mind my dancing…I haven't been doing this for quite a while like any other woman would."

"It's quite alright. I wouldn't prize myself for the best dancing in this room, anyway."

After a few minutes of their lovely dancing, it changed to the _Polka_, and the woman known as Charlotte graciously departed to another man, and soon enough a shorter woman than Charlotte, with shiny black hair twisted tight in a bun and hard, cold brown eyes wearing a white layered dress with floral accents and a matching mask approached Henry.

"_Guten abend!"_ Said the woman, again in a hard German accent.

"Oh, I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with the German language."

"Well, that's ok! I speak English, not to worry!"

Henry smiled.

"My name is Elizabeth. And yours?"

"It's Henry."

"Well nice to meet you! You are quite a dancer!"

"And you are yourself."

The _Polka_ ended after a while, and Henry was left standing while Elizabeth departed, and the Waltz began to come into form.

Henry began to go for his watch again when suddenly a woman took Henry by the hands and swung him into dance. Her hair was pinned up, with several strands of hair falling down. It was golden blonde, and had tight waves. Her eyes were stunning; a pale blue-lilac that had a very keen sharpness to them. Her mask was beige and lacy, with giant feathers emerging from the top left part of the mask. Her dress was of similar style, and long, draping across the floor.

"Hello." Said the woman, in a half American, half English accent, to Henry's surprise.

"Hello."

The woman's eyes looked up to Henry's, and then back down. "That's a very interesting mask you have on."

"Oh?" Henry thought about his half white, half black mask that resembled his half good, half evil personality. He seemed to be astonished at how straightforwardly his partner observed it.

The woman's eyes never made contact. "Yes…do you have a split conscience?"

"I suppose you can say that."

"Hm."

Not much talk went on between Henry and the woman, so before he knew it, the Waltz had ended and the woman disappeared. Fatigued from dancing, Henry thought it was best to go back to the Nautilus for the night. He made his way through the crowd and to the front doors, where he came down the flight of steps that descended to the sidewalk and began to walk back to the German ports. It wasn't a long walk, however Henry wasn't able to get a carriage this late at night, for most of the drivers would be at the dance anyway. And after dancing so much, he began to get a little tired. He found an alley and went down it, sinking to the floor against the cold brick wall. And then,

blackness.


	3. A Familiar Face

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

Henry awoke to the faint sound of metal banging together. His eyes were blinded for a second, which is until he opened them to see a fire blazing in front of him. It was bright and warm, surrounded by rust colored bricks and hard cold stone. He could feel a slight pain on his side, which turned out to be his upper arm. As he squinted, he could see bandages wrapped around it, slightly saturated with a dark red color. The doctor slowly got up, and turned his head right to see a small wooden table next to where he was, crammed with several bottles. He took one and held it up to his eyes. He could faintly see the description:

_27% H2O2_

"Hydrogen Peroxide…"

As Henry attempted to get up from where he lay, he became conscious that he was on a small blue couch, and a dark green flannel throw lay over him. His head began to pound as he did so, and he could also feel his stomach hurt and rumble from hunger. He gave the scorching fire one more glance, and slowly curved his head around to his surroundings. The room was dark; the walls a warm forest green. Besides the fire, light glowed from several candles and small tiny lights by the windows, which were draped by thick brown curtains. Leather cases and books were everywhere, and a small bed with various covers lay against the back wall. The room was small but long, and had another long passageway all the way at the right end of the back wall, and a small, square separate passageway at the left end. The left wall held a giant cabinet, and an archway in which light radiated from. Henry, once sustained, could hear the noise he woke up to coming from the room. Suddenly cautious, he subconsciously grabbed for a formula, that is until he realized his black formal jacket from before was not on him. Looking around the room, he could not find any sight of it, still sitting on the dark blue couch. Henry attempted to get up, and stumbled across the floor, having to grasp the wall for support. Obviously making noise, he suddenly heard the sounds from the other room come to an abrupt stop for a few seconds, and then continuing on.

_Where are we?_

"I don't know…" Henry replied to his other half.

_Well do something about it!_

Henry tried his best to keep his voice down, keeping his yells to a low whisper. "I'm trying my best to get some answers without the attempt of us getting killed!"

_Well whoever it was that brought you here must be a help…look at your arm, they healed your wound!_

And he did. "Yes…or caused it…"

Bravely, Henry Jekyll walked cautiously to the lighted archway, and peeked his head threw. The room was small as well, with ivory colored wallpaper, and was recognized to Henry's mind as a kitchen.

A small table was in the center, plain and wooden. Four matching chairs accompanied it, and a small vase of fresh flowers stood in the center. It was set for two, which made Henry gulp.

Slowly turning his head, Henry saw several marble counters with open bottoms, and could also see the few, small, kitchen items they held. On top of them were several pans of food, giving off a ravenous aroma. By where he stood the doctor could smell something familiar in the pans. The counters cornered and continued on to the south wall, and hovering over them was a woman. Henry automatically observed her piercing pale-blue eyes, and recognized her as the woman he danced with last night…or at least he believed it was last night…that questioned his mask. This made Henry freeze in his position. She was slightly smiling. As Henry studied her now fully shown face, he took in her square beige face with delicate features…her small stunning eyes…her soft petite nose…her puckered round lips…Henry could notice the radiance her face gave off. He familiarized her medium golden blonde, very wavy hair. She wore a beautiful Victorian, dark red velvet corset with boning channels and fastened with a strong busk. She wore a matching, draping handkerchief taffeta skirt as well. She also wore an emerald green renaissance under dress made of very thin cotton, and decorated with a golden trim. A long necklace draped around her neck, and a silver pendant of a star dangled at the end.

"Hello." She said…in the same voice that Henry remembered.

"Hi."

A few moments of silence passed with the two staring into each other's eyes.

"You must be hungry."

"Oh, um…"

"Take a seat. I just finished making dinner."

Henry obeyed, taking a seat by the small round wooden table.

The woman a few minutes later joined Henry with two plates of food, one a little more full than the other. This plate went to Henry. On it laid a piece of roasted chicken, a pile of cooked vegetables; carrots and beets, another pile of brown rice, and a dinner roll. The woman dug into her plate as soon as she sat down while Henry cautiously cut his chicken to spare some time. He was very hungry, but neither he nor Edward was sure if this woman could be trusted. After a minute or two the woman got up and went to a miniature icebox and retrieved two small bottles of milk. She set them on the table.

Henry was still playing with his food when the woman sat down again and looked up to the nervous doctor.

"It's alright…I didn't poison it." Her eyes never lay off her plate.

Henry looked up to her glowing face and back down to his food. He took his silver fork and pierced the chicken with it. He raised it to his mouth, and it entered, and he chewed. It was good.

After nothing bad happening, Henry, out of subconscious hunger, rushed the dinner into his mouth, quite un-politely. The woman chuckled.

"I'm Alisha, by the way. I was walking home from the ball last night and passed by an alleyway, only to notice a group of men hovering over your body. I instantly recognized you from when we danced. I fought them off and took you here. One of them had apparently shot you in the arm, and I could notice another man must have given you a large blow on the head or something, considering that you were unconscious…does your head hurt?"

Henry nodded, still shoving his food into his mouth, a little more courteously than before now that he had regained some pleasure.

"How about your arm, does that hurt too?" she was now making eye contact.

"A little."

"Well, I removed the bullet and cleaned the wound once we got back here. I laid you on the couch and put a blanket over you, and kept the fire going so you would keep warm. You've been out for quite a while now."

"Oh." Henry wondered if the league would be wondering where he was.

"My name is Henry."

"I know…Henry Jekyll, other half named Edward Hyde, current member of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen…former doctor to England…I know the whole story. I almost instantly recognized you from the mask, really. You should be more careful about that." Alisha smiled.

"How do you know?" Henry immediately became vigilant.

Alisha stayed calm. "Oh I know all about you, Rodney, Tom, Nemo, Mina, Allan…"

"Allan died."

"Oh, did he?" Alisha's head instantaneously lifted from her view of the table. "I'm so sorry!"

"Oh…well I didn't know him very well, not like some of the others."

"Oh…"

"But how do you know about all of us?"

"I can see part of the future you know, and I saw the league. I get these feelings in the back of my mind sometimes and then I just know something is going to happen. I'm a psychic…but I looked up every resource I could get and found the files on all of you…that's why I went to the ball, that's why I danced with you…that's why I observed your mask the way I did...and that's why I brought you back here and saved your life."

Henry was taken aback. "Oh…" he staggered in his words as Edward grumbled in his mind.

"The league is probably looking for you right about now if not earlier. It's been one full day since the ball."

"Oh my! W-where would they be? Where are we now?"

"I'll take you to the Nautilus in a few minutes. Let me just get my things together." Alisha had just finished her plate, got up to the sink and placed them in the interior. She took a rag of the counter and wiped her hands, then disappeared through the archway. Henry still sat there, his plate clean as well. He replicated Alisha's actions and went through the archway as well into the dark, glowing room. As soon as he went through, Alisha came out of the small square passageway with a case, bulky from various items.

"What's all that?"

"You'll see." Alisha said with a smile.

"Come on!"

Alisha led Henry back into the kitchen, and out threw a glass door that led to a lighted street.

It was dark outside; Henry could see the lighted elongated lamps that ran down the street.

"Here's your jacket, by the way." Alisha threw Henry; him almost stumbling upon his bad catch. "You're probably going to need it."

As Henry attempted to put it on over his body, Alisha seemed to be getting on something. He fastened the buttons on the front of his jacket and looked up to Alisha, who was floating in mid-air, it looked like.

"Well, get on." She motioned her hand for him to sit on what seemed to look like a broom stick.

"Um,"

"Just swing your leg over."

And Henry did so, awkwardly. The broom began to rise.

"Whoa---"

"Wrap your arms around my waist, just for precautions. I wouldn't want you to fall off; we're going to be pretty high you know."

"Um, ok."

Henry, as he was told, draped his arms around the witch's waist. Not tight enough for her not to be able to breathe, but tight enough to show his anxiety. She was warm.

They rose higher and higher, to almost about 250 feet above ground. Henry looked down, and saw the streets of Germany get smaller and smaller.

"So you're a witch?"

"You got it."

"A good witch?"

Alisha pondered that for a moment.

"…sometimes." she said with a smirk, and together they flew off above the German night, away to the Nautilus and the league.


	4. First Introduction

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

For about a half hour Alisha and Henry flew across the streets of Germany, eventually coming to the ports. It was getting to be the break of dawn, and the horizon could be seen in the distance, releasing rays of orange and red into the clouds. Out of the expanse, the Nautilus exposed out of the water taking up all docking space. It proudly rested within the waters of the North Sea, shining from the new coming sunlight. Like tiny ants, people bustled about around the magnificent ship from their point of view. As they got quite almost above it, the broomstick quickly descended with a tilt of the broom, which made Henry's stomach turn. It swerved to the side once three-quarters close to the ground, then rotated into a complete circle as it landed, now hovering over the cobblestone ground. Henry hurriedly attempted to get off the ride, stumbling as Alisha helped him get off. Captain Nemo first took notice on the strange course of travel and its two occupants, rushing over to meet the doctor in which the league had been seeking out for since last night.

"Dr. Jekyll!" he proclaimed, now standing beside the nearly-unstable man. "Where have you been? I just sent a search party to find you! We had all thought the worst!"

"Well that's nice…" Alisha mumbled, now getting off her broom.

Captain Nemo glanced over in her direction. "Who's this?" He sauntered over by the broom, eying it very carefully more than the owner herself.

"Uh, that's Alisha." Henry quickly interrupted. He came over by Nemo, defending his heroine. "She recovered me from last night. I-I don't remember much, really; she claims to have taken my health in her account after a couple of men ram shackled me."

Nemo's tone changed from mistrustful to appreciative. "Oh! Well thank you for taking care of our good doctor." He smiled. Nemo then looked over to Henry, shielding his expression. He gave him an obvious look. Henry knew what he was thinking. Henry nodded. Nemo once again faced Alisha. He was about to say something when a familiar voice gave an interruption.

"Henry!" Mina Harker extravagantly shouted from across the harbor. She promptly strolled to Henry's side, resting an arm on his shoulder. Tom Sawyer swiftly followed up behind her, giving Alisha a quick glance.

"We were so worried." She said, Alisha noticing the faint jealousy in Tom's eyes. Henry replied with a weak smile, almost embarrassed.

"Well, looks like you're in good hands now. I'd better be off." Alisha swung her leg over the broomstick, and slowly it began to rise.

"Wait!" Henry shouted. The broomstick stopped and hovered in mid-air. "You helped me out; let me at least introduce you to the league."

Alisha's broom descended, and she got off. Henry knew she knew the league already, but _they_ didn't know _her_.

"Alisha this is—"

"Wilhelmina Harker, but you can call me Mina." She introduced herself as she grasped the witch's hand for a mild handshake, giving a small grin.

"Captain Nemo." He said also shaking her hand, a little more firmer.

"Agent Tom Sawyer." Tom came up to her and shook her hand, the most polite out of everyone.

"And I'm Rodney Skinner." The invisible man proclaimed as he took Alisha's hand and gave it a kiss, wearing his hat and trench coat. Alisha gave the thief a quick smirk and slithered her hand away in discomfort. "Now who's this?"

It was Nemo, now that introduced. "This is Alisha. She saved Dr. Jekyll's life..."

Tom's face began to go anxious. He had a feeling where this was going.

"…and I must say, Ms…"

"Dover."

"Ms. Dover, I must say that this…mechanism of yours is quite…extraordinary."

The league all looked at each other. Tom grew more fretful, especially when Rodney said exactly what he was afraid someone would say.

"Hey Tom…I think we just found a new member for our latest mission!"

"It would be great if you could accompany us. We're going to need the best help we can get." Henry said shyly.

"I agree." said Mina.

"As do I." said Nemo.

The league, including its possibly newest member, turned their heads to Tom. He sighed.

"I'm in too." He said.

"Ok, then. Wow…thanks! May I go back to get my things, Captain?" Alisha said with a polite grin, turning to him.

"Of course."

"Swell! I should be back in about a half hour." The witch began to get on her broomstick, it automatically rising. "Oh and before I forget, how do you all feel about pets?"

"Pets?" Rodney replied.

"Yeah."

"Um…" Nemo's face was unreadable.

"You know what, never mind. I'll see you all soon." And she flew off in the distance.

A few minutes of silence lasted between the league. Rodney Skinner raised his eyebrows and walked over to Henry. He gave him a few pats on the back before returning to his cabin. Mina, Nemo, and Henry all looked at him as he walked away, and Tom snickered.


	5. MI5

**Taken In Again**

A/N: Thanks so much EmmaSteed for reviewing! :] Your story is great! And I started to change the POV to Alisha's. So in random parts of the story for now on it'll just switch.

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

It was a little past a half hour when Alisha got back. All the league members were in the ship already, almost ready for their big departure to England. The giant metal side doors were left open and Patel was waiting for the witch's return. When she came down in her spiral landing, he jumped back to the thing that jumped off in front of him.

---

Alisha strut down the hallway with her companion by her side. The emptiness of the hallway made only the noise of the heavy and light footsteps they made in unison. Patel followed up behind, running to catch up. He overflowed with boxes and cases, being very careful not to drop anything that might be precious. Alisha, although never been in the Nautilus before, strode through the ship like she'd designed its interior. Within minutes of turning the halls, the witch eventually came to her cabin. She opened the door and looked around. Patel came in a few seconds later, stumbling a bit to lay her things down on the floor.

"Thanks, Patel. I'll take it from here." She took a leather chest from his hands.

Once Patel left the cabin, Alisha took one look around, then to her travel companion. With a sigh she left the room, being followed from behind.

Alisha thought most people would be either in their cabins or the library; so without the rude interruption of interfering with whatever the league may be doing in their private quarters, the library was best place to start. The library's wide open doors showed the serene room. A roaring fireplace burned on the back wall with a beautiful beige painting above it. The fireplace was bordered by two bookshelves. On the side walls three long bookshelves stood parallel to each other. In the center lay three beige cushion chairs. To her luck, Tom lay in the middle chair reading a brown covered book, and Rodney sat on top of the chair next to him; improperly of course. They both looked up to her, than down to the black satin cat Tom had seen the previous night, both at the same time.

"Is that a cat?" Tom questioned.

"No it's an elephant, actually."

Rodney snickered at Alisha's sarcastic comment. Tom rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. Very funny."

Alisha smiled. Rodney raised his eyebrow while looking at the cat, then opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, but stopped.

"What? Witches have black cats." she said.

Tom and Rodney looked at each other, then to Alisha. Tom smiled while shaking his head, and Alisha joined them without hesitation.

---

_Not long after the amusement it was time for the Nautilus dinner. The league was all very hungry from searching all night for the good doctor, so all showed in the dining room. Inside the bright white room lay a long white table in the center stocked with various seafood fresh from the Mediterranean sea. Nemo's men set served the league as soon as they sat down, handing them plates and silverware telling them to help themselves. _

_Now when I say 'league', I find it hard to include myself into the category. I've just been accepted only a few hours ago, but still I find it a bit uncomfortable to see the league begin to settle in with my presence. It was dark outside the portholes the last time I checked, and I can guess that it was nearing to midnight. It's been a long day; it could be seen in each league members' faces. Henry was more self-conscience than tired, though. He did sleep for quite a while back at the cabin. Mina kept quite alert, though that's probably because she's a vampire, and they tend to be more of the dark kind. Tom's young face was the most tired; Nemo, his face showed more tiredness of life than day. And Rodney…well I really couldn't tell at all considering his transparent face._

_I was pretty early for dinner, even though it was ironic since we were having dinner so late. Nemo apologized for that once he entered the room. I came in with Tom, Rodney and Midnight, but we weren't the first ones there. Mina was sitting on the left side of the table, the second seat to the end farthest away from our entrance. Tom's face lit up when he saw her, but then dimmed once Henry walked into the room and saw Mina's reaction. I sat on the same side as Mina was sitting; a few chairs away. Rodney plopped a seat right to my right. Tom sat on the opposite end, contrary to us. When Henry came in he sat on Tom's side as well, opposite to Mina. And Nemo, he sat on the very end of the table so he could face us all. I took a few pieces of scallop and put them on an extra plate Patel gave me. I placed it at the bottom of my chair and immediately Midnight started eating. Nemo, Mina, and Henry noticed her, obviously. _

"_A cat?" Henry commented first, almost in an amused tone. _

"_Everyone, this is Midnight. She's my traveling companion and best friend." I said, petting her. _

_The league seemed to ignore the cat. It was natural for a witch to have one, to be honest... _

_---_

_I wasn't all that hungry from dinner about an hour ago, and I could tell neither was Henry. Although the food did look good and I wanted to be courteous, I took a piece of blue-clawed crab off the buffet. As I attempted to de-shell the thing, I noticed Rodney take a red lobster off the buffet and immediately started eating it, tearing the morsel to shreds. As I watched the lobster being grinded by nothing, then going down an invisible esophagus through peristalsis then disappearing, my face must have shown my astounded expression, because Rodney noticed it._

"_You'll get used to it."_

"_Hm? Oh. Yeah I suppose I will."_

"_Heh. It was blimey weird for me to look in the mirror everyday and see myself as nothing, but watching myself eat…well, I can tell ya' I had the same response at first." _

"_Oh I'm sure you did."_

"_Heh,"_

_I finally got the shell open to reveal the meat inside after putting my fingers through enough pain. Ugh. I wasn't used to this. And there wasn't even a lot of crab inside the shell. I wasn't really hungry anyway, so I just lay back against my chair and viewed the league during their meal. I swear all during it Mina, Henry and Tom were all glancing at one another it was about to drive me crazy. Tom to Mina to Henry to Mina to Tom and on and on and on! Gosh! I thought I was going to just smack them all! So after about ten minutes of this I just got up and left. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rodney give me a questionable look. _

Rodney wiped his mouth and got up to follow Alisha. He grabbed his trench coat off the back of his chair and go after his new friend.

_I could hear someone walking behind me. Rodney, most likely. I didn't look back; I just kept on going and headed to my cabin. He didn't say anything, he just followed me. When I got inside, not long after I closed the door did I hear a knock on the door._

"_Hey, Lish, you in there?"_

_Lish? Wow, he gets comfortable easily. _

_I opened the door, and there stood the floating hat and trench coat. I opened my mouth to speak but he just walked right in. I closed my mouth taken aback. _

"_So why'd you storm out? He made himself comfortable by lying down on the bed._

"_I didn't storm out…I just got too full so I left."_

_He didn't say anything, so I guessed that he wasn't buying it. I walked into the small bathroom attached to my cabin, and he just laid there, the hat following my pace. The door opened and Midnight pranced in. She nudged the door shut with her body and walked to a corner and embraced herself into a ball. Rodney didn't seem to notice._

"_You stormed out. Why?" his tone was a little harsher._

"_It was everyone else…except Nemo; he was fine, and you."_

"_Mina, Henry, and Tom?"_

"_I swear is there some kind of love triangle going around or something I don't know about?"_

_He chuckled. "You could sense that, eh? Yeah I suppose so. I know Tom likes Mina, but I guess I could support the fact that the doc likes 'er too."_

"_And Mina?"_

"_I don't know who she likes. She once told us she had a husband who died, and on our last mission there was a chap who she used to be in a relationship with…they still had some chemistry. We could all tell. Especially Tom."_

"_Why's that?" I sat down on the bed now._

"_Jealousy." He exhaled. "The boy tried his chance. I believe her words were: 'Your sweet, and your young. Neither are traits I hold in high regard.' Tom kept on flirting with her. But I guess the fortune doesn't reward the bold after all." He laughed at that last part._

_I pondered Mina's words. "Does that mean she likes mean, old guys?"_

_He laughed hard on that one. "I guess so. Describes Dorian all right."_

"_Huh. Well that's interesting."_

"_I guess everyone in the league fell for her a bit. All during the week I had the crave to give 'er the goose…I got to do that in Mongolia." He chuckled. _

"_Well that's even more interesting…" I got up from the bed, obviously uncomfortable. _

_He was looking at me for a minute. Or at least I thought he was. His head was tilted up toward my face._

"_What?"_

"_Nothin'."_

"_No?"_

"_No…hey how could you tell I was looking at you?"_

"_You're very easy to read, Rodney. Even if you are invisible. It's a good power to have, if you're easy to read I mean." I smiled. "But still…"_

"_Huh. I'll remember that the next time."_

"_Next time?"_

"_Never mind." I heard the smile in his words._

_There was a silence in the room for a few seconds…it was unbearable. _

"_So…what other stuff do witches do than fly around with their black…pets?"_

_I laughed. "Oh you have a lot to learn."_

"_Then educate me." He got up to slouch off the bed, sounding interested. I thought I would tease him, so I folded my arms against my chest._

"_Well unless you want to be severely injured, I don't think there is a good way to show you right here, right now. But don't worry; you'll eventually see what I can do."_

"_Well then why don't you just tell me?"_

"_Because. Its something you have to see to believe."_

"_We're the league of extraordinary gentlemen. I think we've all believed the impossible."_

_I raised my eyebrow. "Oh is that so?"_

"_Yeah I would say so,"_

"_I can tell." I looked at him up and down._

_He laughed. "Well then if you wish it, I'll wait. Besides, if we stay here any longer someone will think we're having an affair." He got up and walked to the door. I scuffed my voice, heaving a sigh. "Of course, that's exactly what they'd think." I opened the door for him and he proudly walked out. He turned around for me to come out as well, but I just smiled and shut the door in his face. I needed my sleep._

_I went to one of my leather chests and opened it. I took out a delicate black lace lingerie dress and went to the bathroom. I turned on the water and took a hot bath for about a half hour. I dressed in my nightclothes and went to my bed. I slowly lay myself down on my side and at a snail's pace my eyes gazed at the descending room. I wasn't sure how long I just lay there with my eyes open, reviewing the day's events. It was crazy. I had a pretty normal life…for a Wiccan, at least, and now I travel with five other unusual gentlemen on a ship the likes of man kind has never seen. I now give my life to this league, and this new mission they speak of. I just hope everything, and maybe even everyone, goes as well as I control. And in a matter of time, I fell asleep. _

---

The league woke up bright and early the next morning to the sound of men bustling about the ship and noises of active men. Once everyone was up, they all assembled in front of the Nautilus, standing on British ground.

They were at the London ports, bringing back memories of their first meeting with Dorian which led to their first fight, the first sight of the Nautilus, the knowledge of Mina's kind, and so on. Rodney wore his usual public attire; his painted white face and black coat, hat and tea shades. Tom wore a casual attire of black pants, a white cotton button up shirt and black vest. Tom's belt was black, and carried his guns. Nemo wore his usual blue and silver armored ensemble and turban. Nemo's holster belt was blue and held his sword and obtained an extra blue pocket. Mina dressed in a midnight red, off-the-shoulder Victorian dress of a beautiful lace corset, and her hair down pin-straight the same way it was in Mongolia. Henry's outfit was a plain white button up shirt and a dark grey patterned vest and grey pants. Alisha dressed in a tight silk black corset dress and black lace up leather ankle boots, with her hair pinned up again. She wore a black holster garter belt, hauling bottles and potions.

Nemo called for Patel to retrieve the automobile from the ship. In a matter of minutes he drove out the side doors and the league got in. As they attempted to drive through the activity of Englishmen, they stared and got in the way of the car admiring its beauty and unique technology of the new age. Patel, once out of the way and onto the London streets, drove to the British Museum, which was to be the location given for the meet. In about ten minutes the league arrived to the building's ascending steps and large columns. The automobile parked on the curb of the building and the league got out facing the misty English weather. Mina Harker led the way inside the building first, followed by Nemo, Tom, Alisha, Rodney, and lastly Henry. As the league descended to the secret annexe, the tension increased as well as the suspicion and curiosity. The doors opened to the familiar brightened room to Rodney, Nemo, and Mina. Alisha, Henry, and Tom took in the base of operations. Waiting in the center of the room was a big, well-built man with heavy strong square features. He had black hair and a goatee, and dressed in a black suit with a white shirt underneath, white gloves as he rested on a black cane.

"Good evening gentlemen, ladies. Please come in."

The league assembled in. all stood but Alisha and Rodney, who slipped themselves into the nearest chairs. Rodney immediately proudly took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. Alisha shifted into a interested, listening position with her jaw rested against her palm, and crossed her legs. Henry fiddled with his pocket watch. The rest of the league was blood cold and still, ready for any needed action.

"I am Campion Bond, and this is MI5."

"What's MI5?" Tom's voice sounded uneasy.

Campion sighed and began to pace around the room slowly, ever so often turning to the league. "Let me just start from the beginning. I am a descendant of Sir Basildon Bond, an underling of Sir Jack Wilton, the original M, who in 1558 established Prospero's Men, the original League, for Queen Gloriana I. Prospero, the head of the organization, was the original 007. This organization is called MI5, or Military Intelligence, Section 5. It's a security service, and you are all officially secret agents for the British Empire and her majesty."

"What did you mean when you said 'the original M'? Was the M who betrayed us a part of this organization as well?" Nemo questioned with a harsh tone.

"Professor James Moriarty was a rival of the famous Sherlock Holmes. I had worked for him before your acquaintance, hired from my university to his command. Having survived the encounter with Sherlock Holmes, he went on to become the head of British Intelligence under the code name "M", but still maintained his criminal interests. But after a fall he took at Reichenbach Falls, he was never the same man. He instigated the creation of the all of you as a covert ops unit with plausible deniability and used you to create his world war. But then he used all of you, using Mr. Grey as a spy. Thankfully thwarted by yourselves, you had uncovered the double-cross. Following his death he was succeeded as "M" by Mycroft Holmes, ironically Sherlock's older brother. He is now the head of MI5, and we once again require your services."

The league pondered for a few minutes.

"Doesn't sound too convincing to me…how do we know your not going to do the same thing M did?" Tom asked.

"My boy, I give you all my honor and trust. Professor Moriarty was simply a glitch in this organization. Simply not a promising way to introduce you to MI5."

"Huh." Alisha commented.

"And I see you've gained extra members." Campion glanced to the witch. "Nothing wrong with that. Always better to see new agents." He then turned to Tom. "As for you as well, Mr. Sawyer. It was glorious for you to join this league. If it weren't for you, Professor James may still be living as a havoc to Europe." His voice grew deeper into his speech.

Tom shifted in his position. Alisha spoke out next, not taking her hardened gaze off Campion's face. Revenge glared in her lavender pearls, turning them to amethyst stones.

"And what services do you require from the league exactly?"

Campion Bond straightened his posture. He whipped up his cane and walked to a stack of papers lying on the long table in the middle of the room. He took the stack and slipped a few pages from the top. He walked over to the end of the table and handed them to Alisha. She took them from his hands and removed her gaze to the paper and read it aloud.

"It's a newspaper article."

"What's it say?" Tom asked.

"The headline reads: Martian ships seen in Woking, Surrey."

"Martians? What kind of game is this, Bond?" Skinner commented.

"Read further." Campion's gaze never left the paper.

"It says here that an unidentified spacecraft was crashed in the town of Woking, located in Surrey, England. A resulting crater lasts there with the spacecraft unmoved, and men are investigating the possible alien life forms present in space."

"Whaa?" Tom scratched his head in bewilderment.

Campion's eyes met Tom's. "This was an article that was to be published in the London Post. MI5 took hold of its possession. But in a matter of time people will find out about the ship's plunge in Woking, so we need you all to dispatch to the crater immediately and guard it until further notice from the knowledge of the fall, or these so-called Martians."

"So you want us to babysit the thing?" Rodney asked.

"Guard, really. But, if you'd like to put it that way, then yes."

"Hold on a sec, the date on this paper is from last week. When did the craft land?"

"Sometime ago last week...the London reporters can get their stories fast. And so can the world. Most people either didn't believe the story or thought it was some kind of our own technology. They don't know the half of it, these people. We require your services for this next mission of yours immediately. So if you must decide whether or not to serve this country, make the decision now."

The league all looked at each other. Nemo searched the expressions around the room. Alisha's eyes were cold; Rodney's white face was plain. Tom's face was soft and surrendered; Henry's weak and full of internal angst. Mina's eyes were cold and slightly red, and her face hard and expressionless. Yet she gave Nemo an approval nod, and then Henry followed her action.

"We're in."


	6. Metal Squids

**Taken In Again**

A/N: I used the Martian info from Wikipedia, taken from the LOEG2 comic.

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

The league arrived immediately in Woking, a few minutes after their departure from the MI5 headquarters. The automobile, driven by Patel, stopped the car before a group of policemen, trying to keep people back from the commotion they were guarding. A few people complained of their houses being crushed by the 'silver meteor', and they have no place to go, or their homes were near the crash and they didn't want to stay away. Others complained of their desire to see the unidentified spacecraft.

"Well I'm guessing this is where the crash took place." Mina said.

"No kidding." Tom said in a surprised tone, amazed as well by their sight of the ship from where the car was parked.

The league assembled out into the foggy weather, slightly better than that of London. Followed by Alisha, the most eager to see the spacecraft, they harshly walked through the crowd to the police officers. Alisha approached one policeman with a black moustache sweaty face, looking a little overweight.

"We are the league of extraordinary gentlemen, sent by MI5." Alisha's face showed the sudden surprisement in the word 'we'.

"MI5, eh…yes, Mycroft mentioned you. Make your way through then, carefully and help us guard this thing." The league passed through the guards, attempting not to let any other citizens come through as well. Alisha came through first followed by Tom, and their eyes slowly gazed up upon the spacecraft as their mouths were left hanging open.

"Whoa." said Tom, similar to his reaction to his first sight of the Nautilus.

"Oh…my…god." said Alisha. "That is _definitely…_alien material."

"My god, look at the size of that thing!" Mina proclaimed.

The league took several steps closer, identifying and speculating each and every detail of the ship. It resembled a metal octopus or squid, with its oval base and top, and ten tentacle-like legs. For about ten minutes they touched and discovered the machine and its metal scaled legs, its windows, openings and design, never entering the crater itself but only what lay outside the earth's depression. Mina kneeled down and discovered a dark red powder, in which she exclaimed to Nemo who handed her a small tube. The vampiress carefully pinched the powder with her fingers, and cascaded it into the small vile. The league noticed Mina's findings, and made their way to the site.

Then something happened.

"HEY! HEY, GET BACK HERE!" A guard shouted vociferously and used all his strength against a young boy of about eighteen. All the guards nearby tried their greatest to hold the boy back, but he got too far. He ran past the guards and toward the league.

"Hey, catch the boy!"

The league all readied their selves to encounter the boy's wrath. But instead, the young man pushed them aside in a scurry, and peered down into the depression. Unfortunately, before the league could get to him, the boy was peering too far he leaned all too much, and dropped inside the crater. He tumbled down the sides of the basin and eventually dropped to the bottom. His face was scuffed with dirt from the fall, and his clothes were slightly ripped. His vision was far from the crowd looking in; he was nearly under the spacecraft and hardly moving at first. Alisha was about to jump down into the crater herself to retreat the boy when she saw a movement. She stopped, and Tom, questioning her sudden halt, readied his self to jump in as well. Alisha swung her arm in a nippy time against Tom it sent him tumbling back just a bit.

"Hey, what's with the smacking?"

"Nobody move." Her eyes never left the basin of the machine. The boy looked up, and his face turned to terror within seconds of realizing what lay in front of his eyes, not yet visible to the league.

"Aaaahhh!" the boy, shouted in panic at the top of his lungs to an unidentified horror.

Tom peered in carefully. He squinted his eyes. "W-what happened?" he gulped.

Then, it crawled out of the base. It was similar to the ship itself but a smaller version; with only four extended scaly legs and an elongated skull with four glowing blue eyes across the face, an alien had finally came into view.

"Dear god, what is that thing?" Henry inquired in almost a whisper.

A group of men from the crowd slowly and carefully walked past the guards, never leaving their gaze off the alien. The men let them pass, taken aback themselves. In fact, every single person in the crowd never made a noise, shout, or sudden movement. The league however, thought it was best to take a few steps back, just in case. Alisha got up from her crouching position and walked back, near to where Henry was standing and positioned next to him, with a hand rested on his biceps. He looked over to her face which was instead laid on the alien and its visitors.

The five men assembled together from different parts of the crowd. They slowly lowered themselves down into the crater to meet the alien, first sitting on the edge of the depression then scuffing their shoes across the descending dirt, being careful not to fall. Everyone else around the spacecraft were still as stone. The alien frantically looked around in panic to the men closing in. Glancing at the uptight boy lying on the ground who watched carefully at the alien and the men's actions, a young man with brown hair approached the alien once all the men were in the depression. The alien fixed its four glowing eyes on the man.

"Hello." the man said.

The alien twisted its head on an angle, making bizarre sounds that resembled a machine.

"We…come in peace." his head moved closer to the alien's as he pushed out his words.

The alien recklessly twisted its head around to all the men surrounding it. It made louder noises and now squirmed its tentacles in different directions. Without warning, it wriggled its body back into the spacecraft within panic. The crowd looked at each other in confusion; the league remained still. Within seconds, the opening in which the alien retreated closed shut from the bottom of the UFO. Lights began to flicker on the side of the craft and four of its legs moved, attempting to rise. One by one the legs slowly strived the machine to ascend several feet into the air. The metal creaked as it stood over the crowd, now in slight fear. The league backed up further, with Alisha never leaving her grip on Henry's arm. Rodney seemed to notice, and so did Mina.

The lights at the bottom of the ship grew red, and small openings from the cylinder released. It made a strange noise as it was about to fire up. Captain Nemo was the first to notice. His face quickly grew into revolting alarm.

"Everybody get down on the ground!" he shouted at the top of his lungs…but only the league heard his words over the shouts of the crowd.

Light penetrated from the opening onto the crowd. At the slight moment before they were to be hit, the league hit the ground. Nemo grabbed Mina and Tom, closest to him with his two spare arms, and pushed them with his force and caused them to fall on the cold road cement. Rodney, from the loud thunder the beam made from hitting the crowd caused him to fall as well. He bundled himself into a ball in fright. Alisha's eyes widened in alarm and turned her head to the side. She tightened her grip on Henry's arm as his face reacted to the ray as well. She pushed them to the ground along with the rest of the league and they came down with a thump, tumbled on top of each other. Henry lay by her side, too frightened to get up, and looked to Alisha who already fixed her eyes on his. Rodney struggled to get off his coat, hat and makeup.

As the league safely lay below the deadly white beam, the rest of the crowd burned to a dreadful end as the ship walked with its four legs; the other six squirming above in a frenzy. After a few minutes of destruction to the entire crowd and alarm in the league, Tom willingly loaded his Winchester, and aimed it to the source where the heat-ray flared. The shot rung in his ears as his professional aim caused the small bullet to hit the opening, and the beam stopped. The ship encountered the alarm of the wounded shaft as the remaining of the crowd ran off in fear, disgusted by the burnt bodies.

Rodney Skinner looked up and saw the corpses covered in scorched flesh, and shuddered at the memory of the fire in Mongolia. His fear for fire grew and grew each day.

Alisha and Henry's stare was cut off by Henry's sudden look to the hit the ship received. He looked back to Alisha and never left his fearful stare, and slowly moved his hand to the interior of his jacket, and felt the smooth sides of the formula. He could hear Edward chant in his mind, hurting to get out.

"Alisha…"

"Be careful, Henry."

Alisha let go of her grip as Henry shifted away from Alisha a bit, then forcing down the clear liquid. He panicked and hysterically faced the change from Jekyll to Hyde, jerking on the road with smoke coming off the doctor and sweat beating on his body as his body parts bulged up, causing an asymmetrical balance to the size of his body. When he finally performed the transformation, Edward Hyde glanced to Alisha then to the injured ship, and jolted up onto his feet to threaten the aliens with violent death. The monster raged forward to its legs, and grabbed one with his bare hands, ripping it from its socket. The machine struggled to balance and tipped over, making yet another crash into the earth. Edward finished the job by pounding his fists into the side of the UFO. The opening once again was released, and this time several of the same alien squirmed out of the vehicle, aiming to attack their enemy. The league now got up ready for action, and charged to the squid-like creatures. Alisha ran with might to the one closest to Hyde and stopped before it to spin her leg around and hammering it with her foot, causing it to fly a few feet back. The aliens then focused their endeavor to the witch, when Tom shot the closest one with his rifle. Captain Nemo charged to the group of exposed aliens with his sword, and slit one's body as Alisha ran around the alien she sent flying. Mina got up as well, her nails and teeth elongating; her hair curling. Alisha ran to the curve of the depression, and jumped high to the inside of the crater. She stood there ready to the pounce as the creature struggled to get up and growled an unidentified sound. It darted to the witch, who jumped up in the air, taking a vial from her holster belt, and chucked it down. The creature screeched and writhed as the bottle broke and acid drenched its head. It burned the aliens face, causing it to wriggle in all different directions in pain as Alisha retrieved to the ground. As Tom, Hyde and Nemo all pulverized the swarm of aliens, Mina viewed the blood spill from the creature's body which made her senses to twitch with lust. The vampiress growled as her body leaped to the grey body and punctured her teeth into its side. Alien blood may differ from humans, but to Mina it was still blood. Before long, the battle ended with the aliens' dead from either being slit by Nemo, shot by Tom, bitten by Mina, burned by Alisha, or hit by Edward. The league stood there, deserted by the crowd and guards tall and proud of their successful battle.

"Well, this is a first." Tom said, facing the rest of the league, including Alisha, who all now stood inside the crater to face the dead grey corpses. The league stared at the bodies in shock; Mina shaking her head, Nemo squinting his eyes in curiosity for another world, and Tom in slight fear for the world's future. Edward's face showed pain as his formula was near an end. Alisha twisted her head to look around.

"Hey, has anybody seen Rodney?"

The league all looked around, noticing the missing rogue, not making a noise or action to show his presence.

"Skinner?" Tom backed up from the bodies and climbed out the crater. The league followed his action.

"Hey…Skinner can you hear us?"

No voice was made in response.

"Where could he be?" Tom asked, showing his perplexity by scratching his head.

"Mina, could you sniff him out?" Nemo asked, turning his head to vampiress.

"I don't know his exact scent, so I can't pin point his location. I can sense he is near, though."

The league all looked around to the burned rubble of the village. The panic of his possible death spread across them.

"Hyde?" Nemo asked.

"I don't know his scent either."

Then Alisha walked past Tom, and stopped to listen.

"He's alive. I can hear him."

"What? How?" Tom questioned her by furrowing his eyebrows.

"Listen."

The league listened. A faint sound could be heard a few feet away; a fearful gasping.

"I can hear him too." Mina said, startled that Alisha could hear the diminutive sound before her.

Alisha walked carefully past all the bodies and stopped near the right side of the street.

"Rodney?" The witch kneeled down to the pavement, feeling around. Her hands stopped to the bulging feel of naked, invisible flesh. She felt his muscular arm, and then moved to his puffed and slightly hairy chest, up his veiny neck and to the side of his stubble textured cheeks.

"Rodney…Rodney are you okay?" Alisha tried to look into where the man's eyes would be.

"F-f-fire…hot, ray…fire, burning flesh…" he stumbled, trying to come out with his words.

Alisha put her hand to the back of his naked head and supported it as she attempted to get his invisible arm over her shoulder. Picking him up with slight difficulty, the league came over to assist the witch and the injured thief.

"I think we should give him some rest." Alisha said to Nemo, almost a whisper.

"Right. I think we should report back to Campion first, though."

"Ok, well let's make it fast. I'm getting pretty anxious being around all these dead aliens."

"Good idea." Tom said.

Edward began to transform back into the lanky doctor Jekyll. Henry stood before them in a matter of seconds.

"And possibly get the doc some clothes?" Tom said as Henry tried to keep his pants up. He smirked at the American's comment.

Henry muttered his fearful thoughts as the league walked to the un-damaged automobile. "Do you think the Martians would have called for…help, or something?"

The league stopped in their tracks. They never thought of the possible fact of an actual Martian attack. They turned around to face the half-naked, trembling doctor. A silence lasted a few seconds as the gap was filled with inquisitive looks.

"I really think we should get back to Campion before we think about that…too creepy of a thought." Tom said.

The league got all got in the automobile; Henry very awkwardly being shirtless and exposed to the league, especially the women, and Alisha attempting to help Rodney into the car. Captain Nemo drove the British Museum as the league left the smoked rubble behind them.


	7. Rooming In

**Taken In Again**

A/N: I used the Martian info from Wikipedia, taken from the LOEG2 comic.

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

The league entered the secret annexe of the British Museum, down the grey halls and descending staircase. Rodney still limped a bit in Alisha's arms. They must have taken Campion by surprise, for he looked up with a startled expression from looking through some papers?

"Well that was fast."

The league came in and made themselves comfortable. Captain Nemo faced Bond with a firm appearance.

"We were attacked."

"What?"

"The Martians attacked the town with their heat-rays. The site is in ruins."

"And the crowd?"

"Dead, mostly…burned to death."

Rodney shuddered.

"My God…"

Alisha stepped in. "We destroyed the Martians when we could, but we weren't able to find any survivors."

"What about the ship?"

"It's still there."

"I see. Well good work, all of you. I'll send my men over to the site immediately. But stay in the area until further notice…I recommend an inn close by the battle sight. There's one called _The Bleak House _not too far from Horsell common. You should stay there for the night."

Captain Nemo nodded.

"I'll send one of my Majors to meet you there. I'm shall put him in charge of guarding the remains of the crater."

"We'll check in immediately."

"Good. He should meet you there. Be careful, all of you."

And the league left.

And sure enough, the Bleak House lay outside the skirts of Horsell Common. It stood tall, surrounded by other shops and public buildings. The sign above the inn was torn and rusted from old age. The automobile parked on the curb of the street and went inside. Inside the Bleak House there stood a bar on the right wall, and three table and chairs on the left wall, next to an open archway. Giant clean windows let in enormous amounts of light on the back wall where the league came in, on each side of the wooden door. Beside each window stood an extra table and two matching chairs. The walls were covered in a wood paneling, and the floor was a similar dark wood. A large brown and red patterned rug accompanied the cold floor. The front wall stood another archway and a spiral staircase.

As Mina, leading the group, opened the old wooden door her eyes met the face of a few members of a confident looking military division lead by a pompous, irascible, jingoistic and stereotypically British, overweight, bald man. He stood tall and straight, and had a moustache long enough to hang past his neck. He wore a professional military uniform, and eyed each member as they walked in. The other men copied his position, and wore similar, but less ranked uniforms.

"My name is Major Blimp." he introduced.

"You must be the league of extraordinary gentlemen. Campion had informed me of your…_intervention _at the site."

The bartender glimpsed to the conversation.

"He has assigned me the mission to have my men defend the crater."

"Right, I think he mentioned something like that." Rodney tried to speak.

"Are you alright, my boy?"

"Fine, fine."

"Well, I just thought I would introduce myself, then. And these are a few of my best officials…Sanderson, Hasseldorf, Groglerdon, Kester and Fender.

A few nodded, the others stood still. The man named Kester eyed Alisha. She eyed him back with a curious look on her face. He copied her expression.

"We will be at the site then, if you need our assistance."

The league simply nodded. The general and his division then left the league in the cold wood barroom.

"So I guess we should check in to our cabins, then?" Rodney said, now reassembling himself from the witch and attempting to sit up straight. She helped him level up and about, and then backed herself away from being ill at ease.

"Right." said Henry.

The bartender wiped his hands on a nearby cloth, stretched his hands out to his sides and rested them on the counter. "You kids need a room?"

"Kids?" Alisha said, raising her eyebrows.

The man chuckled. "My name is Sire Richenbach. I'm the owner of this inn."

Captain Nemo addressed Richenbach. "Yes, we would like to stay for the night."

"Alright. How many," he counted with his finger. "Six?"

Captain Nemo handed the innkeeper several bills. Richenbach counted as his face glowed with the wonder of six new customers. "Here you are." he gave the captain his approximate change. He handed each member a key with a random number on it, and showed them their rooms. He led them up the spiral staircase, and signaled to their rooms left and right of the dark hallway.

_Tom and Rodney exchanged room numbers as I read mine: 6. Mina, Henry, Nemo and I walked to our rooms immediately. I walked to the left down the hallway, where Richenbach said the room would be. When I reached to the door that said 6, I unlocked the door with my key and walked inside. The room was small, and the first thing I noticed was the huge window at the back. It was enclosed with thick brown curtains. The walls were of light beige wallpaper, some parts slightly ripped. On the left wall lay a wooden desk and chair accompanied by a quill and some writing paper, a few leather chests, and a small wardrobe. The right wall had a double bed that contained two small side-tables at its sides with a clock at each end. The floor was of a beige carpet very bland and the exact same color as the walls. As my feet sank into the plush flooring I walked to the bed and sat down, puffing out the day's intensity. I saw the small bathroom bulging out of the wall next to the door and looked inside. The walls and floor were not exactly to my surprise, but white tiled, a little worn…and bland, mild, and tasteless. Ugh._

_There was a shower in the back, a toilet on the side next to a sink with an attached cabinet, and a mirror above. But other than that, it was just a basic bathroom._

_I went back to the bed and sat down again. I looked at the door and wondered why it hadn't opened yet, revealing my roommate. But as soon as I came up with the idea he walked in… _

_I wasn't shocked._

"_Hey, roommate." Rodney sauntered in the room and took is coat off, throwing it on the bed post. _

"_Why…am I not surprised?" I shook my head in disbelief._

"_What, that we'd get the same room?"_

_I gave him a 'what-do-you-think' look. _

"_Well I guess we're inseparable after all." He smiled._

"_Right…well I'm pretty tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."_

"_Ya' sure? You don't want to chat a bit? We just settled in…"_

"_I'm sure. Campion wouldn't want us to get ourselves all worked up. He might need us tomorrow."_

"_Screw Campion. He aint the boss of us."_

"_Uh…he kind of is."_

"_You know what I mean…" Rodney walked into the bathroom and I heard the water turn on. Probably washing off the grease paint._

_I lay on the right side of the bed, stretching my aching legs out in front of me, and my tender arms behind my head. The position reminded me of Tom on a summer day taking a nap. It made me snicker._

_Rodney came out wearing only his hat and glasses. He made his way to his side of the bed, took off his remaining attire, and placed them on the bed-side-table. He lay on the bed next to me._

"_Long day, huh?"_

_I shifted my position by moving my arms under me as I turned my body to face him. I think he did the same._

_I exhaled…a bit loudly, I would say. "Rodney…"_

"_Yeah."_

"_What happened back there?"_

"_What do you mean?" his tone skipped a bit._

"_You know the whole 'me having to support you' thing…and 'you all hyperventilating about fire', and all that."_

_He was silent for a bit, and then finally gave out a sigh. He was forcing his words out._

"_In our last mission…in Mongolia."_

_I nodded._

"_There was a fire."_

_I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off._

"_My job was to plant bombs around the furnace. I could smell the smoke from down the hall…I walked in the blazing room, the heat making it hard to bear anything…but then I saw Tom through the fire on the other side of the room, and one of M's armored soldiers."_

_This time I didn't say anything. I let him finish anything that he needed to say._

"_I risked my life to save Tom's…I destroyed the soldier's flame-thrower by hitting the gas pump on his back. I told him to run for his life, as I ran for mine."_

"_Oh my god."_

"_I got burned pretty badly…third degree, Henry told me. He healed me during the time we had before Allan's funeral…but even though I saved Tom's life…I mean, don't get me wrong I don't regret it…but…"_

"_But what?" my voice was almost a whisper now._

"_I almost died for Tom…and Allan _did_ die. I feel bad for the lad." _

"_Well what does that have to do with this evening?"_

"_I don't know. I guess the heat-rays reminded me of the pain from the burns."_

"_So the invisible man is afraid of fire?"_

"_Heh, I guess so."_

"_Huh…well, now that we've had the 'chat' you wanted, If you don't mind I'm going to sleep."_

"_Right."_

Mina entered her cabin and went to the window. She pulled back the blinds to look out to the streets of London. She almost didn't hear the faint sound of the door closing. Turning around, Mina saw Henry Jekyll shyly looking at the vampiress.

"Hello."

"Hi Henry."

A silence lasted between the gaze for minutes.

"Um…"

"You and Edward did a good job today, fighting off those aliens."

"Oh well that was really just Edward…" Henry fiddled with his watch and looked down to avoid the woman's eyes.

Mina glanced at the watch. It seemed like a long time she was watching the doctor fool around with the thing.

"Henry?"

He looked up.

"Yes?"

"What happened between you and Alisha the other night…when she…healed you, you said?"

"Oh…well, nothing…really. I-I woke up in her house, and she took me back to the Nautilus."

"Oh."

"Why?" the response was almost too sudden.

"Just wondering…you two seem to be close, you know."

"Do we?"

Mina nodded. Henry became very nervous and started to play with his watch again. He looked down, then back up to her again.

"I-I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Me too." She smiled sweetly.


	8. War of the Worlds

_**Taken In Again**_

_A/N: I used the Martian info from Wikipedia, taken from the LOEG2 comic._

_Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already._

_The warm sunlight shining on my face caused my eyes to drift open, greeting the bright new day. The covers were warm and the room was dimly lit from the window, and it introduced the beautiful day. Looking over to my right, I subconsciously grabbed the alarm clock. Through my squinted eyes, it read nine am. Looking over to my left I saw nothing. I mean, I know I'd see nothing, but I saw…_nothing. _No crease on the bed or pillows, nothing there to feel as my hand glided over the bed to check his presence. I never thought Rodney was such an early riser. Well, you know what they say. The early bird gets the worm…_

_Then what does the late bird get?_

…_no worms?_

_Will I get no success if I don't get up early?_

…

_Stupid John Ray._

_Pondering, I rose up on my feet, and I felt such in a haze it was like I wasn't even walking. More like flying, really. The window was my first instinct. Going to the window really is the first thing to do when I wake up, but something else drifted in the room. Something told me that it was very important to look out into the daylight this morning…_

_I tend to get that a lot._

_When I opened the curtains, I had to squint my eyes even further than they already wore so I wouldn't burst my pupil. It was still dark besides the day being sunny enough to wake me up. The sky was clear, but dark, actually. How could I have seen and_ feel _the sun, when there wasn't any. Then it was beginning to come to me._

_I wonder if maybe the sun was a…_

_My train of thought was interrupted by a flash of light cascading from the sky, unexpectedly. I suddenly felt like Chicken Little. _

_It was bright, and odd colors like no shooting star I've ever seen before. Well then again, I've never seen a shooting star. But aren't they normally a yellow-white? The falling light glowed a deep green. It was an odd shape, too. It was more oval…and as it got closer it looked a little like a…oh my god._

_Before I could think anything else it crashed…no, landed, I should say…in almost the exact same spot as the other crash. I heard men shouting…shelling the spacecraft. Bright lights immediately emerged from the spot, only a few miles away. The aliens must be retaliating with their heat-rays. I had to warn the others, if they didn't know already. I tuned around fastest I could go, equipped my holster, stocked myself, and shoot out the door. As I rushed to warn the others, I noticed Rodney's jacket still on the bedpost….where could he possibly be?_

_And ironically, guess who walked through the door just as I grabbed the handle. We bumped into each other in our collision. I was startled by his perfect timing._

"_Whoa! Where you headed?"_

_I just simply walked out the door, heading for Nemo's room. I thought he should be the first to tell. _

Rodney sprinted into the room, grabbed his coat, and sprinted back, closing the door with him.

"_Henry was right."_

_I knocked on Nemo's door hastily. _

"_About?" He came up to me._

"_About the Martians. They're attacking."_

"_What? Where?"_

"_At the site." By this time the door had opened by Tom, bed-headed, tired, and messy._

"_Hey…"_

"_Hi. C'mon. Let's go."_

_To my surprise, Nemo came up behind us. Apparently people like to get up early in this league. Mina and Henry came up behind him as well with curious looks on their faces._

"_What's going on?" Mina asked with a slight resentment in her voice. Again, didn't surprise me._

"_The Martians…another ship has landed near the sight and they're using their heat-rays again. We have to fight back!" I jolted past the league but a hand caught me. I turned and it was in fact an invisible hand._

"_Hey, c'mon. We cant just let them obliterate the army division, and all those people that might be there!" _

_But Rodney wouldn't let go._

"_Are you sure?" asked Henry. By this time Tom had gotten his holster and guns from the room._

"_Yeah. I saw the ship come down, and you can hear the people shouting…and the red light from their heat-rays, and…"_

"_Well what are we doing standing around here? C'mon, Alisha. Everyone, let's get to that site!" Tom jerked past us and I followed. This time Rodney didn't stop me. The league ran after, and all were already equipped, I would guess. _

_As we bolted to the front door, Sir Richenbach just simply glanced in our general direction from polishing a glass._

"_Good luck to ye."_

_Tom pushed open the doors and I heard a screaming…very, very close. _

_And I wasn't the only one the sound frightened. _

_People furiously ran past the door openings. The streets were being invaded by horrified Englishmen and women. My face showed complete and utter alarm. _

_Just then, the only thing I could hear was the high pitched ringing in my ears. The only thing I could feel was the painless fire against my back. I immediately feared for Rodney._

_I ducked down, crouching with my arms around my head in protection. Some league members fell. As I thought it was safe to creep a look, I saw Henry and Tom lay unconscious on the rubble of the inn. Mina and Nemo were almost in the same position as me._

"_GET DOWN!" I felt a push on my body, and I went down to join Henry and Tom._

_My face hit the ground with no sound. Only pain. Pieces of the rubble pierced at my skin as it sliced my body. I slightly looked up, and saw the new spacecraft slithering across the town of Woking, eliminating all in its path. It had moved on, and I was lucky enough to survive its past demolition. I felt a hand on my back._

"_Are you okay?"_

_I looked through Rodney when my face had the courage to flip around. "Yeah, I'm fine…thanks."_

"_No problem." I could hear the smile._

_Captain Nemo, dusted from the ruins, slowly got up behind me. I looked in back of me, and the entire inn was destroyed. It was gone…nothing was left but pieces of burnt wood, some still in flames…lying helplessly on the ground. My face never changed since the explosion. Mina began to get up as well, unharmed. _

…_Déjà vu? _

_Tom and Henry never moved from their positions scattered on the floor. The rest of us tried our best to wake them up, but neither one would budge. Nemo went over to Tom first…the closest to his position, and put his finger to the boy's neck._

"_He has a pulse." The good captain scraped his strong arms under Tom's body, and attempted to lift and carry him. It looked too easy for him._

"_Somebody get Dr. Jekyll."_

_Mina instantaneously responded. "I'll take him."_

"_So will I." Mina tried to hide her dirty look, but it showed._

_Just then, a carriage wheeled up on the side of the street right in front of us. It scythed on the pavement, almost reminding me of my landings._

"_Get in!" the driver shouted, leaning his head to us as far as it could go._

_The Martians were far away now, heading south...London was south. _

_Nemo, carrying Tom, Rodney, and then Mina and I carrying Henry got in the carriage without haste. As soon as the door closed it took off. A shout was heard from inside._

"_The name's Sr. William Samson. I am under the order of Mycroft Holmes to take you back to the HI5 headquarters. He requires seeing you under the circumstances of the attack…to give you your next order."_

"_Who wouldn't?" I whispered to myself. I don't think anybody heard me over the screaming. I'm beginning to get the feeling that I'm a little too sarcastic sometimes._

---

_The ride was a little longer than before. Tom and Henry were still unconscious and I was beginning to get a little worried. There was no speaking during the ride, so I thought I would break the silence._

"_Had anybody tried waking them up?"_

_The two of them sat in the carriage with their heads hanging down. Henry was on one side at the end next to Mina, and with Nemo on the other. On my side, I sat next to Rodney, who supported Tom way on the other end._

"_The best way is for them to wake themselves within time." Mina said, trying to be the innocent one…ugh._

"_Screw time. You don't have to teach me about that…this is just too unbearable."_

_I took a special vial from my holster and uncorked it. I leaned over to Tom and put it up to his nose. He woke instantaneously._

"_Wha!" _

_Tom looked around the carriage. "What happened?" he scratched his head, but stopped when he made a face at the sharp pain in his arm._

"_You were unconscious." I took the vial and did the same thing to Henry. He woke up the same way."_

"_Oh!"_

_Leaning back, I corked the vial again and attached it to my holster._

"_What was that stuff?" Nemo asked with curiosity._

"_Yeah," Tom added. "That stuff smelled horrible…"_

_Henry made a face, following Tom._

"_Oh…just a little concoction I've been working on. I wasn't sure if it was going to work…" I looked at Tom and Henry. "…I guess it does, then." I smiled at the thought of a new successful potion._

"_Why didn't you do that before?" Mina questioned._

"_Didn't think of it." I shrugged my shoulders. "That, and I wasn't sure if it was going to wake them. Because if it didn't, there was a good chance that the smell could injure them even more."_

"_Then why did you do it? Did you have any concern if it went wrong?"_

"_No, I was pretty confident."_

_Tom gave me a 'I-think-I'm going-to-faint' look._

"_Right, well…speaking of chemistry, I had found a curious red powder at the site yesterday. I analyzed it last night, and it seems to be of the same substance found on the surface of Mars."_

"_Huh. So…we know what planet they came from?"_

_Mina nodded._

"_Uh…okay. Well how about what we're going to do to kill them off?" asked Tom._

"_Well we know we can just shoot the rays off if we have to." Mina recommended._

"_And the aliens themselves?" Nemo questioned._

_During the conversation I was staring out the window, facing the path the Martians came from._

"_Uh-oh."_

"_What?" Tom asked._

"_There's more than one backup." The sky was flooded with bright green lights descending from the sky._

_Nemo looked as well. "Gruesome...is this what the world comes too? An alien invasion?"_

"_A war of the worlds…" I said._

_The league all turned their heads to mine. But I never lay my gaze off our descending tyrants. _

---

When the league arrived to MI5, Campion was waiting in the middle of the room like they first met him. As soon as they walked he began to talk.

"Thank the gods you're all alive. You escaped the explosion at the inn just in time. I was also informed of the newest crash near the site…including the death of Major Blimp and his division. May they rest in peace."

"Hey, how do you get information so fast?" Tom plotted himself down on the floor, still a little queasy from before.

"I get my sources."

"Like?"

"That's none of your concern, Agent Sawyer."

"Shouldn't it be our concern? You have us recorded or something?"

_This argument was getting a little too intense._

"_Can we get back to orders now? If any of you have noticed, England's being invaded by Martians."_

"_Well, as of now I'd like to assign you some separate tasks. Ms. Harker…stay here in the library and find out as much as you can about Mars. Captain, retrieve to the Nautilus and update with your comrades on a battle plan. Agent Sawyer, Dr. Jekyll, I would like you to go back to the site and find any extra information you can, and heal any that may be in need of medical attention from the burns. And Ms. Dover, Mr. Skinner. I have a very special task for you two."_

"_Um?" this wasn't going to turn out good._

"_I want you two to follow them."_

"_The Martians?"_

"_Yes, Mr. Skinner. See where they are headed exactly and what it is they want."_

"_And how to kill them?" Rodney asked._

"_That too."_

_Campion took a sip of whiskey from his glass. The cubes of ice dangled inside, clinging to each other. My eyes were stuck on their pattern, and the way they flowed in the glass._

"_Why South…"_

"_What was that?" Campion asked._

_And then it hit me. I knew how to kill the Martians. _


	9. The Chase

**Taken In Again**

A/N: I used the Martian info from Wikipedia, taken from the LOEG2 comic.

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_I excitingly proclaimed my discovery in the secret annexe, leaving the league and Campion with bewilderment. _

"_What is it, Alisha?" Tom asked._

_I turned to him, then back around to Campion with a humongous smirk stretched on my face._

"_I know how to kill the Martians!"_

"_What…? But, how?" Campion stood up to face me._

"_The Martians are heading south, correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And they use their heat ray to destroy their enemy?"_

"_Correct."_

"_Well then they can't stand the cold! They must not be stable enough to withstand the arctic. If we head them north, I think we would be able to kill them. They might freeze easily…they're better in the heat."_

_The league's faces slowly turned into consideration._

"_It just might work." Rodney said._

"_But we don't know for sure if that's the reason why they're headed south. Isn't outer space supposedly cold anyway?"_

"_Well," I said. "If they're headed south anyway, it must not be good they're up to. Leading them in the opposite direction could be our best bet."_

_Mina regretted her words._

"_I'll lead the Martians to the north of Scotland if I can make it that far."_

"_And if they don't freeze up?" Tom proclaimed._

"_Then I'll lead them off the island…into the sea."_

_Campion sighed. "Worth the shot."_

"_Then what do we do?" Tom asked._

"_You'll stay here."_

"_What?"_

"_I can't risk any of you getting hurt."_

"_We're in this together whether you like it or not, Alisha. We're going to follow."_

_I've never seen Tom get this serious ever before. Apparently the league had, because I was the only one in the room who seemed surprised. So I nodded, and the mission was set._

---

Outside the British Museum the league stood together in silence, with Campion by their side, as they watched the Martians a few miles away terrorizing the streets of London. They could see the heat rays beam in all different ways and the metal tentacles from the ship squirm in every direction above the craft. The screams were faint sounds, yet very strong in their ears. Terror roamed in the streets; every man, woman and child rushed to carriages in order to get out of town in the fastest route possible. Families…with hurt and pain on their faces from loss of loved ones and possibility of more.

"You ready to do this?" Rodney glimpsed at Alisha.

"Absolutely."

With the broomstick at her side, Alisha slowly rose into the air with a goodbye. Henry watched as she flew to the direction of their enemy with caution.

Just as Alisha left, the automobile sped up to the curb and the league swiftly got in. The car drove fast in the direction Alisha flew.

Wind rushed on each of the witches' side; her dress and hair flew in every direction as the sound of passing breezes penetrated her ears. She flew over the rubble of buildings, houses, and hundreds of corpses within. Within seconds she caught up with the ships, and the sounds and light from the beams got louder and brighter. As the spacecrafts were within reach, the witch circled around it, and rapidly the tentacles attacked the broomstick, but the witch was too quick. Becoming somewhat dizzy, its focus took off from the attack and to the current distraction as below the intervention the automobile drove close by.

Once the Martians were distracted, Alisha flew in the opposite direction; north. Not seeming to notice, they followed without hesitation. In order to keep them sidetracked, Alisha threw a few potions at the head of the craft, making it more aggressive. After a while however, Alisha became to be too fast for the Martians. Her flying was no match for the ship's swarming. After hearing a strange sound, the witch turned around to see the tentacles retrieve inside the head, and above ground it stayed. It grew faster and faster as the distance between the two grew smaller.

"Shit!" Alisha gave focus on the direction ahead of her, and flew off with the most speed she could go, growing the distance by a small bit. However the craft got closer than ever and time was running by fast before they had begun to catch up.

The automobile sped as much as it goes on the London streets. The roof was off and Tom peaked out above the rest and viewed the situation, cut off from everyone else's view from the remaining buildings.

"Oh this is bad…this is really bad."

"What, what is it?" Rodney asked. He attempted to get up like Tom in order to see the situation.

"The Martians are flying like her now…and they're catching up." Tom could see the many other Martian spacecrafts from the other direction, realizing the chase. They began to follow; recovering their tentacles and taking flight as well.

For about an hour the fight for the lead went on, and within time the automobile was left miles behind. The attack was far within view from Tom.

"I've lost sight!"

With this, Nemo stepped on the pedal hard, and towns flew by in a blur all too much.

Every few minutes Alisha looked behind her to see how close the craft was. It was her second to last potion she threw when it came too close, which made it once more retrieve further back. By now the shores of Scotland came into view.

The automobile had just reached the outskirts of Scotland, and came up to a sort of toll-booth; a small edifice stood on the side of the street, and a man waited outside for the automobile. The car was going too fast, and the man hastily leaped aside as it broke through the fragile gate in its path.

"Ahh…Scotland." Rodney greeted as in between his stretched out arms he laid his head.

The shores were close; Alisha could smell the saltwater from her position. Still alert by the closer-than-ever spacecraft, the witch took all her might in going any faster if possible…she was so close she could just feel it. Then something strange happened. A strange glow came from the broom…or the person along for the ride…and suddenly the flying broomstick struck the speed to light and left the Martians behind on land, as once the sea waved underneath the witch; and her speed then decreased enough for her to only hover over the sea.

Suddenly, once the Martians were within throwing distance, the last potion was taken from her holster, and in a slow motion it felt the back-throw the witch made unexpectedly underneath the craft near the engine. The acid burnt away the metal fiercely, and once the engine was exposed to the potion it incinerated instantly. Tentacles abruptly pierced through the sides and attacked the hovering witch right before the malicious explosion. By then the league had caught up to the shores, and the car swerved a few feet from the shore. The league filed out swiftly right as the blast sent the two in opposite directions.

The spacecraft flew in the air past the league, and burst the ground with a puff of dirt only a small distance from the league. In reaction, they hovered themselves to the ground right as Tom lifted his head only to see a body and broomstick fall into the distant waters.

"NO!" Tom began to unclothe himself while Rodney, Nemo, Mina and Henry lifted their heads to faintly see an empty sky and ocean.

"Alisha!" Henry proclaimed. He got up, and rushed to the edge of the shore and watched as Tom jumped into the freezing cold waters wearing his plain white shirt and tan pants to retrieve his witch.

Halfway between their distance; a quarter way from sight of the horizon, Tom used all his might to catch up, but Alisha was all too far away from where he was, and by now her body would be miles down beneath the water. Tom noticed Alisha's broomstick float by him. And as much doubt for survival hit his skull, Tom never gave up catching up to the spot where the witch fell. Before long however, his view became unaware as to how far away he was, and where the fall took place. Floating in one place, aggression finally hit as Tom looked around to the calm, empty sea. The league watched from shore as Tom swam in place in the middle of the ocean, with Alisha no where to be seen. Loss spread from each face, especially in Henry's…where the angst of not being able to do anything hit him.

Suddenly, only a few feet in front of Tom bubbles began to form and Alisha rose from the sea, swishing her long wet hair behind her.

"Bwah…" Tom attempted to get the water out of his mouth to speak. "How…wha?"

Alisha swam in place beside Tom, the two of them staring at each other. Alisha's eyes began to glow lighter than normal. A couple minutes passed as disclosure sank in Tom's skull.

"We thought you were gone…but I could have thought as much for you to save yourself." Tom turned around and made way to the shore.

---

By the time Tom and Alisha retrieved to the shore the league had taken bliss of the survival, and the soaked agent ascended from the water to the shore and rushed past the league, taking his remaining attire off the ground hastily. Off in the distance he sat down on a large boulder facing the opposite direction, and wiped off his face with his jacket, and removed his soaking white buttoned up shirt. Henry and Rodney squat down beside Alisha as she kneeled down on the sand soaking wet and slightly faint.

"Are you alright?" Henry asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Blood slowly began to appear on Alisha's forehead as they stared into each other's eyes.

"You're bleeding."

Henry took the handkerchief from his pocket and tended Alisha's wound as Rodney walked over to Tom.

"You alright, lad?"

"Fine."

"You don't look fine…"

"I said I'm fine!" Tom angrily looked a Rodney for a minute, until realizing the utter betrayal to his friend.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't want to talk about it, I see." Rodney got up about to walk back to the rest of the league.

"It's just..."

"I'm listening." Rodney retrieved his spot.

"Alisha's our friend. And friends help out friends, am I right?"

Rodney nodded.

"Well she just seems to be saving herself all the time like she doesn't need any one to help her…any friends."

"Tom you can't blame her for recovering on her own."

"It's not just this Rodney…sure, I wouldn't like to get wet for nothing, but…"

"But?"

"But she never lets us in on anything…are we her friends or her comrades, Rodney?"

Rodney took this in as he gazed out into the deep blue horizon.

"_Thanks." I gazed into Henry's eyes as he pat the blood away from my face. Every so often he would glimpse back and smile slightly. I could almost see the glitter in his eyes as he pretends not to notice my stare. I found my broomstick out at sea and inspected it; it seems as if it's fine, with only a few minor adjustments to be fixed. It's capable of flying, however. _

_I glimpsed over to Tom and Rodney talking by a large boulder. I couldn't help but wonder if Tom was mad at me. It definitely seems like it…although I couldn't imagine why. The only possible reason I could think of is that he didn't get the chance to be today's hero…either that or he was upset for getting all wet and tired for nothing. Well I couldn't blame him…I was freezing cold…more than usual at least. And when I thought nothing could make me feel worse, I proved myself wrong._

"_Ugh. And here comes the back up again." I began to get up and power my still-wet broom. I seriously need a new name for this thing…the word 'broom' sounds all…normal for a non-normal thing. I'll think of something…eventually. I got on and hovered above the ground as the league saw what I was talking about._

_The rest of the Martian ships, well…most of them, at least, were now coming toward us._

_They looked angry._

_Just then, on the east shore the Nautilus rose out of the water in great glory. Very good timing…I'll give it that._

_The Martians got closer and closer, ready to attack._

"_All right, let's get em once and for all. I'll continue to head north?" I directed to Nemo for consultation. He nodded, and joined the others by rushing inside the magnificent ship._

---

_They were pretty close, the Martians. Although we got a head start and they were far behind only to be fairly seen, I could tell they were getting closer by time. The Nautilus glided through the waters below me; I wasn't even sure which waters they were. After a bit of flying I could see land up ahead…and I presumed it was Sweden. At least the Martians were out of England and Scotland, but I didn't feel any better just to relocate the Martians to Sweden in particular…I am part Scandinavian and I very much respect the people, country and culture. I have to say, if they damage any towns there, I'll smash their little alien heads…I swear. Well, at least I'm getting dry._

The Martians followed Alisha over the Swedish towns and cites…leading towards the mountains. The Nautilus docked at the ports and tagged along in the automobile while so. As the mountains got closer, the cold seeped in hard to the Martians, the league, and especially the witch. Everything seemed to go slower…the league stopped the car for they couldn't drive through the heavy, thick snowy mountains…the Martians ships began to freeze up which stalled their flight…and the broomstick began to slow as well, for its passenger wasn't feeling so hot.

Flying right into a fjord of deeply frozen water, the league rushed out of the automobile and passed over the lake to the side of the mountains in the freezing cold, wearing their normal clothes. Alisha reached the end of the fjord to a shallow mountain with a visible cave. She flew inside, and fell off her broom to a weak faint on the hard, cold, icy stone floor.

The league watched as the Martian ships slowly halted their flight due to a frozen engine, apparently. One by one, their eyes watched amazingly through the thick falling snow the ships fall, crashing onto the lake and cracking the ice…causing it to break and the ships to drown.

The league rejoiced in triumph.

"We did it!" Tom proclaimed.

"Yes, and we couldn't have done it without Miss Dover." Nemo said.

The league then all frantically searched around themselves and the sky as the thought of their missing member sank in.

"Hey, speaking of her…" even Mina's sharp senses could not detect her near.

"She's gone."

The league grew anxious. Henry took out a vial of his potion and forced it down. The transformation had begun and Edward appeared in a matter of seconds. Mina evolved into a flock of bats, and flew away in search of Alisha…alive or dead.


	10. Monsters in the Mountains

**Taken In Again**

A/N: I used a translator… :/

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_The first thing I felt was the utter and bitter freezing cold. I scarcely opened my eyes, and saw the remains of the cave above me. I hadn't been sure what happened; all I could tell was that I felt I was going to die that night by freezing to death. It was a good thing that cave was there…otherwise, my mind would just have gave up on my life hanging by a thread and I would have fallen off that broom…_

_I always knew I was propitious. _

_It took all my strength for me to get up, for my head spun like crazy as I tried. The only thing visible outside the icy cave was the heavily thick snow that continuously fell upon the fjord. I could see the spot where the Martian ships penetrated the ice, and very faintly I thought I had seen the automobile parked on the side of the mountain. Even more faintly I thought I saw a giant figure pacing around the area. Must have been Ed._

"_EDWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!" _

_I screamed at the top of my lungs to what I was able to get from my frail voice. I could have been imagining, but I thought I saw his head turn. Thank god for his acute hearing!_

_Suddenly after that I heard a strange sound. Almost like flapping. With a scrunched up and confused face I slowly turned around only to see a body form out of a flock of bats. Out of astonishment I jumped back._

"_Oh!"_

_Soon enough Mina finally came into view as a human body and not a bunch of miniature flying, sucking creatures. _

"_It's alright Alisha, it's just me."_

"_Oh I can see that…"_

"_We were afraid we'd lost you."_

_I shrugged. "Yeah…well, here I am…"_

"_Hm." Mina started to walk towards me._

"_How long were you all looking for me?"_

"_A while."_

"_Long enough?" She was right in front of me now._

"_Mm."_

"_Well then we'd better get back." I went back to the cave in search of my broom. I found it in the corner, a little dismantled but flyable. Nothing that wasn't fixable or important. Just the GPS was broken off and the back rocket was a little busted. _

_Grabbing every piece I could find, I drew back out of the cave to meet Mina, but all I saw was the snow continuously falling around me._

---

The league paced back and forth. Mina flew in by bat form right before the league, and the members looked with instant curiosity.

"She's fine."

"Well, where is she?" Nemo asked, wondering why the vampiress didn't bring her back with her.

"She was in a cave. She said she would fly back."

Edward waited impatiently for something to do, and paced back and forth in the snow. His eyes craved action. Rodney stood a few feet behind; hands in his trench coat. Tom stood to the side of Edward with his hand fiercely gripped to his rifle. Nemo stood in between the vampiress and the brute off to the side, his hand also gripped tightly to his weapon, ready for action.

"Well was she alright?" Edward asked.

"Fine when I met up with her." Mina's voice was calm the entire time.

Just then, Alisha still a little weak flew in. Going a little past where the league stood at first, then once realizing the league was right below her the witch hovered to her landing and jumped off the broom, almost stumbling. Edward barely caught her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah…thanks, Ed." At first Edward didn't notice how tight Alisha's grip was on his arm until she stumbled to stand up straight.

"What happened?" Tom's grip on his rifle loosened a bit.

"I don't know. I think I blacked out."

"Blacked out?" Nemo's glare focused on Mina, then back to Alisha.

"Yeah…fell off my broom into a cave. All I remember is loosing focus and control over everything; I couldn't feel any part of my body. I was lucky for the only conscious I had at the time, which led me to fall into the cave."

"Henry wonders what made you lose conscious." Edward commented.

"I—I don't know." Alisha's hand drifted to her forehead with visual pain on her face. Edward continued to support her body, for the more he attempted to let her stand on her own, the more she failed.

"Maybe it was so cold that her brain couldn't stand it or something." Tom suggested, shifting the weight to his right side.

"Freezing to death?" Rodney shifted his hands out of his pockets.

"It's plausible, I guess…" Alisha said, her hand still sustaining her forehead.

"With the rush from flying so fast makes it very possible." Mina stated.

"Mm." Edward made a straining noise, and out of reaction Alisha shifted away just a bit to give the transformation some room. And within seconds, Henry appeared in ripped clothing.

"Uh-m…hi." Henry grasped his arms for warmth. "As I must add from my knowledge as a doctor, I have doubts that a shift to unconsciousness like that could have been caused by freezing to death."

"Then what?" Mina questioned softly.

"I'm not sure." Henry gazed into the witch's eyes. "Does anything hurt? Seem unusual?"

"I—uh…" Alisha staggered as she attempted to stand. "Vision is blurry, and I'm getting a little confused."

Henry released one of his hands from the grip of his falling pants and grabbed Alisha's hand, liberating it from her forehead. He bowed his head to see the possible damage to the witch's lowered face, but failed to find any.

"Well Hypothermia wouldn't have those symptoms." Henry glanced to Mina, then to Nemo. "Come here." Henry's hand tilted Alisha's face up to his. Inspecting it, the only thing strange he discovered was the quick dilating and changing of brightness her eyes made, which made the doctor to give a baffled expression. Alisha finally found the strength to get up without hesitation and pain. She straightened her position, then once realizing it, her expression fit the newest situation.

"Hypothermia or not, it still is cold out." In response the witch fiercely rubbed her shoulders as the invisible rogue suddenly realized a solution.

"Well, here. Take my coat." The invisible man began to quickly take off his trench, and handed it over.

"Don't worry bout me, love. I'm used to the cold. Just don't want anyone to get hurt again."

"Oh, gee. Thanks, Rodney." Without hesitation the witch took the trench and put it on, huddling on the inside. To her surprise, Rodney Skinner actually walked over and stretched his arm over Alisha's shoulder and caressed her arms. A hint of jealousy hit Henry's eyes; a hint of excitement hit Mina and Tom's.

"Well, um…" Although feeling a bit awkward in Rodney's arms, it was slightly comforting in the cold. But before anyone could say any more on the subject, they were interrupted by a startling sound.

"AYYYYY! Hålla båt , Jag ser folk!"

The league slowly saw the immense Viking Longboat approach them crash through the ice as they squinted their eyes to look through the heavy snow that never failed to fall. As it closed in on them, numerous men in traditional horned helmets quickly jumped off and seized their new captives. Other men were stopped by the automobile to view the technology that had never before crossed their eyes.

The league, out of reaction, couldn't help but fight back. Alisha and Rodney swiftly departed, and the rogue flung off his black buckaroo hat. Some of the Vikings began to feel invisible punches come their way. Captain Nemo seized his sword and a sword fight broke out between him and about four Vikings. And of course from more experience, Nemo was winning the victory as Mina clutched the throats of many and fed out of desperate hunger. Tom began shooting in all different directions, and several men fell from painful shot wounds, however many Vikings dodged the bullets and or their thick armor blocked the bullets' path…including the Viking who grabbed Tom from behind and made the rifle fall out of the boy's hands into the snow. Unfortunately Henry didn't have enough time to take out his formula, for he was seized before he had the chance and the bottle he was about to drink fell into the snow. The Viking holding Henry's fragile body willingly stepped on the formula, crushing the glass to pieces under his boots. Alisha was seized as well, but to the league's surprise the witch didn't put up a fight. In fact, her words were exact:

"Thank god!" Alisha eagerly walked to the ship as Tom, Henry, and eventually Nemo and Rodney did once captured. Mina was the hardest to be imprisoned, until the Viking captain yelled "Blod dricka!" to his men, and one to which Mina didn't see at first had taken a wooden dowel from the ship and pierced it through the vampiress' heart. Tom screamed in terror.

"MINAAAA!"

The Viking captain showed no expression. "Hör efter till båt. De er vår charmera nu." And the dead vampiress joined the others on the ship. They were taken to the mast and by force tied around it side by side. It seemed easier for the men to take them as prisoners, for the death of Mina overwhelmed them all except Alisha, who seemed to stay calm. Once they were tied down in the order of Mina, Nemo, Alisha, Henry, Rodney, Tom all around the mast, the emotion broke out among them. Mina's body hung over the ropes with the dowel still penetrated in her chest.

"Is she really dead?" Nemo's face showed grief for his comrade and friend.

Tom couldn't control his emotion. Tears drowned his eyes.

Rodney…invisible showed no visual emotion but seemed to bow his head in silence.

Henry seemed to be upset; not as much as Tom had been, however more than Nemo.

Alisha simply rolled her eyes. Nemo seemed to be the only one to notice, and gave a pitiful response. Alisha was to say something but was cut off.

"She's dead. I can't believe it." Henry said.

"Let us go!" Tom screamed at the Viking who made his way over to the league.

He stood in front of them, wearing a pair of old leather boots, a wool traditional like dress covered in scaled armor, and a pair of heavy wool pants underneath. A thick furry shawl draped over the pale, muscular body. The traditional Viking Warrior helmet with two horns penetrating from opposite sides rested on the man's head, with long, white blond braided hair draping from underneath. He spoke with a powerful, cold hard voice.

"Jag er Asbjörn Fromberg , kapten på denne skeppning."

Alisha's head perked up as Tom interrupted the Viking captain's speech.

"What do you want with us?"

"Tom…" Alisha tried.

"Yeah, let us go. We did no harm, now." Rodney spoke.

"Rodneeyy…" Alisha pressed harder.

"You already killed one of our friends!" Tom's voice was scary now.

"TOM!"

Silence lasted for a while between the league.

"Why don't we try a different approach, hm?"

Tom gave the expression of sarcasm.

Alisha turned to face Asbjörn Fromberg and smiled. She breathed in, preparing for a long speech.

"Asbjörn Fromberg, meg hennes namn är Alisha Dover. Jag är en presenterar ditt sår; jag själv är en Viking och ännu bättre en norsk. Dessa är mig i min Harker, kapten Nemo, dr Henry jekyll, Rodney lidande, och Tom Sawyer. Vi gör upp en organisation för de engelska kejsardömet och dess Sverige nedan kommer av hennes madjesty Queen seger och kvaliteten på mig hjärta, jag ber er att hyra oss gå ut utan en kamp vi skulle ge. Jag lovordar."

The league's faces were baffled. Tom's, and, although no one could see it, Rodney's mouth hung in utter shock. Nemo raised his eyebrows as an impressive notion.

"Mer glädjande, med namnet på Odin." Alisha pressed, and Asbjörn's head slowly tilted upward, and gave an approval nod.

With that, three Vikings from the ship released the rope and set the league free. All of the league but Tom showed a happy expression, until they noticed why he stayed unhappy.

"And what about Mina?"

"Oh, god." Henry, still in nothing but ripped pants rushed to Mina's side to inspect her corpse. Again, Alisha rolled her eyes.

"Henry."

"Yes?"

"Pull the thing out of her heart."

And Henry did so.

And a second later Mina revived.

"Oh…" Mina gazed into Henry's eyes with a smile.

"But…how did you know?" Henry glimpsed over back to Alisha and away from Mina, which seized her smile.

"Let's just say there are people out there that you can learn a thing or two about vampires." The league's faces gave questionable looks.

The witch leaned her head to the side, gazing into Mina's deep red-brown eyes. "Right, Mina?"

It gave Mina time to realize who she was talking about.

"Van Helsing?" Her voice showed more fear than shock.

"Nice man, really." The witch shrugged. The league never changed their questionable expressions.

Then Alisha just remembered something important, for she gave a sudden expression, and on one heel spun around to Asbjörn.

"Åh, verkligen kunna du gör oss en favorit?"

"Hur skulle det vara?"

Alisha tilted downward in an awkward position, scrunching her face in hard decision.

"Va. Det kan vara samma."

Asbjörn grunted, and Alisha strut out of the boat, leaving the league frozen in their positions and expressions from before, besides the turning of their heads to follow her trail.

---

The league drove the automobile through the villages of Sweden in complete silence. Alisha still wore Rodney's trench coat, and all their possessions were retrieved from the piles of snow in the fjord, like Rodney's thrown hat, Alisha's broom, and Tom's rifle. Rodney was the first to break the silence.

"How do you know Swedish"

"I don't. But it helps when you're a witch, and have powers that can instantly translate your words."

The entire league snapped their heads to Alisha in obvious puzzlement.

"Yeaaahhh..."

"Um…ok." Was the only response Rodney, or anybody else gave for that matter.

"And how did you know Van Helsing?" Mina pressed.

"Oh, well…um, funny story, really." Alisha chuckled. Mina's cold glare didn't laugh back, however.

"Well, not personally…"

No change in her expression.

Alisha shifted her position; half stressed, half curious.

"I think the real question would be how I knew you couldn't be killed if the piece of wood wasn't left in your heart."

Mina's face changed to say something, but was interrupted by Alisha lifting her finger.

"Actually, if I remember it correctly, isn't a vampire correctly killed by a wooden spear penetrated directly into the heart with no removal, several cloves of garlic stuffed in its mouth, and a case of decapitation?"

By this time Mina's face grew somewhat angry as to the knowledge Alisha knew of how to kill her kind. By this time, Mina's trust for Alisha had disappeared.

"And what about you? I'm sure as a human you could be killed simply with the stab of a knife or a shot wound."

As a response Alisha gave a soft chuckle at first, and then grew to a hard, long laughter.

"Y-you think I'm human?" Alisha struggled to find her words through the amusement.

"Aren't you?" Henry asked, suddenly anxious.

"N-nno!" The witch continued in hysteria.

"Witches aren't human?" Rodney asked.

"Oh, of course they are…but,"

"But?" Nemo leaned his head back from the wheel to question the mysterious woman in the backseat.

"But I'm not just a witch!" The laughter never stopped.

"Then what else are you?" Mina asked from the front seat next to Nemo.

"I—heh…well-eh…hey, Tom can I borrow your rifle?"

"Uh…"

"Here…gimme."

"Ok then." Tom took the rifle from his holster and gave it to Alisha.

"Hey, wait don't you have a rifle?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to waste the bullets." And with that, Alisha put the rifle to her head and pulled the trigger. With a loud bang, the bullet pierced through the witch's head, and shot out from the other side out the automobile. For a moment her head twisted and her eyes flickered, then restrained to herself with an instantly healed wound.

"Ouh…I forgot how much that have me a headache." Alisha shook her head.

"So you're an immortal?" Mina asked.

"No…not an immortal. I can die…" Alisha became serious, never leaving her gaze off Mina's eyes.

"…just not in this dimension."


	11. Dinner with Skinner

**Taken In Again**

A/N: The song "Flattery" is by Aly & AJ

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

It wasn't long before the league caught up with the Nautilus. Nobody had said anything after Alisha's startling confession. All was quiet and uncomfortable for the league during their ride back to London, where they were ordered by Campion Bond through Morse code to report their success…or failure. It was nearing the break of dawn when Alisha came through the water-tight door onto the deck, and saw Captain Nemo with his back to her watching the sunrise.

As soon as Alisha saw the Captain standing by the railing she stopped short for a second, almost wondering whether or not to disturb him. Making her decision, Alisha slowly closed the water-tight door as quietly as possible, and gently walked toward the Captain.

The witch kept her vision straight as she stood next to Captain Nemo. When she approached him, he slightly turned his head to see Alisha view the sunrise.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said, never leaving her gaze. Her voice almost surprised the Captain.

"It always is." said Nemo, glimpsing back to the view.

A few minutes passed until Alisha hesitated for a minute, apparently wanting to ask Nemo something.

"Thanks."

"For what?" Nemo abandoned his gaze to Alisha.

"For everything…for keeping this league in shape. F-for being the backbone for all of us…allowing us on your magnificent ship, in your cabins and using it as our transportation, for feeding us and making us feel at home…for…" Alisha seemed to get out of breath and gave up, guessing the Captain got the message "for everything."

"You're quite welcome. I'm glad to hear the Nautilus is as great a home as you make it seem to me."

Captain Nemo and Alisha returned to the view of the sunrise. The sun was now passing through the blue-purple clouds, and light broke through in every direction…shining on where they stood even. The warmth hit them for the first time in a while.

"Was it hard?" the witch said finally.

"Was what hard?"

"Losing your family and kingdom?"

Captain Nemo was astounded. He suddenly wondered how much Alisha knew of not only his past, but everyone else's. She, after all, knew much about Mina's.

"Just because your name in Latin has the meaning of 'no-one', doesn't mean you were no one…Prince Dakkar." She slightly smiled, leaning one arm on the railing and facing the Captain.

"I—"

"I don't question your past. I know it was hard to lose your family in the Sepoy Rebellion, and your kingdom as well…even if you were antagonistic to the British Raj of India. I mean, it was great for you to devote yourself to scientific research and the development to the Nautilus. But…don't you ever miss your home?"

Captain Nemo seemed to forget Alisha's knowledge of his past and started to remember back to it himself. He didn't care anymore how much she knew…he wasn't surprised.

"The sea is my home now." Nemo permanently deserted his watch to Alisha, and to the sea…his home.

"But don't you ever look back and regret leaving it all behind?"

"Of course I do. I miss my family terribly, and I mourn my loss all too much. But sometimes if that's the case, its better to leave it behind you and move on."

"Hm." Alisha once again joined the Captain in their view of the sunrise, or what was left of it.

"I take your advice dearly, Captain. My past is worth leaving behind as well…but leaving behind my loved ones is a hard thing to do, you know?"

"It takes time, but disregarding your past will come, if you allow it."

"Captain…"

"Hm?"

"My past isn't gone…it's still out there, alive and kicking."

"Oh?"

"My family; my parents. I know I've disappointed them, with everything I've done as the person I've become. I know I've broken their hearts. And knowing their out there with the horror of my memories is bad enough…and knowing they could one day pass on with the same memories is even worse."

"Where are they now?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Then how do you know they are still alive?"

"If they died, I would know."

Silence lasted for a few minutes, with Nemo not knowing what to say next.

"If only I could see them one last time…and prove to them I'm not as bad as they imagine me. I'm no criminal. If only I could make them understand that…and I know that not everyone is born with parents that are kind and understanding…and I keep telling myself that, but…I keep feeling that I could change it…but I know I can't."

The two league members stood side by side in silence for the rest of the daybreak, soaking in each other's time of yore.

---

Campion greeted the league as usual, and as usual the league made themselves comfortable in the secret annexe.

"Good work, everyone."

"Good luck? England is in rubble." Henry said.

"Yes…well, that's being taken care of. Repairs are being made all over. I hope everyone came out to be alright?"

"Well…most of us." Rodney said.

"Oh?"

"Alisha lost consciousness and we don't know why." Tom commented.

"Well I'll get my best men to check on her."

"No…that's ok. I feel fine. If I need any medical assistance I'd feel most comfortable with Dr. Jekyll at my examination. He's pretty handy to have around. Heh…"

"Well ok, then. Just take it easy. I'll contact you for any further assignment."

The league left the secret annexe, and the automobile drove through the derelict streets of London. The league made grave faces when they saw to what had become of the beloved country. After a while they passed London and all the wreckage to a town called Plymouth along the English Channel. The Nautilus was shown; raised high by the docks with English men and women gazing with amazement as they walked passed. As the league got out of the automobile, some of the members stopped short before entering the immense ship to give England one last glance, at a pristine part of it that is. Nemo noticed the yearning faces.

"We shall depart in the morning."

And with that, Captain Nemo disappeared into the Nautilus, followed by Mina then Henry. Tom, Rodney, and Alisha remained.

After realizing they had the night to themselves, Alisha ran off in the distance, passing the buildings and people. Rodney, now wearing his full outfit once again; trench coat, hat, glasses, boots, grease paint, etc., and Tom walked off in a different direction.

---

_I couldn't help but hum as I walked down the nautical style streets of Plymouth. It was a nice night out…the people were bustling at a natural pace, the weather was descent, and the streets were draped in so many lights; it was beautiful! Seagulls flew all about, and the town smelled deliciously of seafood. It was pretty ironic, I thought…compared to the rest of England, that is._

_I guess word doesn't come by too quick around here, eh?_

_I think there was some kind of fair or show going on up ahead. I could see some sort of stage and a bunch of lights and music. My humming got happier and louder I could tell. It was so nice here in Plymouth, after everything we've been through. I'd have to remind myself to thank Nemo later for letting some of us stay out for a bit. _

_Even further down the street I could see there was some kind of show going on up ahead. People were starting to bring out chairs in front. I thought I would ask a man who was working on the lights by the stage._

"_Hey excuse me, what's going on around here?"_

"_There's a show going on. Talent show, sort of. Today's the Plymouth thousand year anniversary celebrations."_

"_A thousand years? Wow…then Plymouth's been around for quite a while then, eh?"_

"_Oh yes."_

"_Hm…hey, who's going to be performing?"_

"_Plenty of people. The show starts in a half hour. If you'd like, the sign ups are just over there." The man pointed to a desk of judges it seemed, where many people were going up to and signing sheets of paper. You know… the works. I walked over to inspect, and the man continued to fix the lights for the show._

"_Hi…is this the sign ups for the show?" I kept quite shy for my character…never been in a talent show, I mean. I've been in plays, but nothing like this._

"_Yes, m'am. We have plenty of spots to be filled in." _

_Without hesitation I took the chart and wrote my name down next to a specific time. I didn't even know what I would do! Singing, I guess. But sing what? Britney Spears? This is 1899 for crying out loud! Sigh. I'll improvise._

_It was nearing the opening for the show…and I had no idea what I would do. I thought about everything the league…us…we…I don't know…just everything. All the trouble we've been through. The problems…the relationships…_

_And then it hit me. I knew what song I'd do! Ooh! I'm so excited…ha! Just the lyrics and everything. I've never been in a talent show before. And my time was almost coming up. The show was beginning…people were filing in the seats…fast. Lights were dimming, and the first act was up…a violinist. It was a man about 35, dressed in black formal attire with black combed hair and a black goatee. He was pretty good, I must say. I think they said his name was, like, Debussy something…I don't really remember. _

…

_Debussy?_

_Oh my god. I'm gonna need an autograph._

_But anyway, after him there was a woman singing opera. She wasn't as good as the violinist. She had black frizzy hair in a bun, and wore way too tense clothing for her weight; her girdle was on a little too tight I think. It didn't just show from her appearance. Her voice was a little screechy…like a parrot…and the dress didn't look to comfortable, either._

_Neither did the audience, actually. _

_I was performing four acts later. As I waited the tension grew so much I didn't think I could stand it. People came up to me, asking what I would be performing so they could prepare. I told them I would handle it. You know, I actually like butterflies a whole lot…just not when they are in my stomach. Nervous just didn't quite explain it. I started to worry about my outfit, too. I felt I didn't quite fit in, or seem presentable in my white button up shirt, black knee length skirt, beige lace stockings and black heeled pumps. My long, wavy blonde hair didn't seem right either._

_And yet, not before long I was up. I think the worst I thought of was the reaction the audience would have to my song. It's not exactly 1899-ish…oh, well. _

_I got up from my seat all the way in the back from the stage where I watched the show. Walking over to the side of the stage, I walked up the stairs and behind the curtains. As I walked through the wings people nervously asked me what I would be performing. I said I would be singing. But other than that, I just ignored them. _

_As soon as I said that a man quickly set up a microphone in center stage._

_And so, I walked through the curtains, stepped out onto the wood floorboards of the stage, and stood in back of the microphone. Somebody announced my name. Lights were flashed into my eyes; I swear I would go blind. So, that was my first priority. Secretly to my side I waved my hand a bit down, and the lights dimmed to a soft glow. The man that was in charge of the lights couldn't figure out what had triggered them to do so. _

_And with a swish of my other hand, the music began to play. A continuous hum played on as an upbeat strum of a guitar echoed around the stage for about twenty seconds. Then I began to sing:_

"_Please, don't flatter yourselfyou're not the only onethis heart has ever felt _

_Please, don't exaggeratedon't tell me you're okay, okay, okay…"_

_As the chorus came to be, the strumming of the guitar got a bit more intense and upbeat; funky._

_You know, the works. _

_I must say, I thought I was quite good. The reaction of the audience wasn't what I expected it to be. They seemed to like it…as something new, or that they've never heard before. The mood of the song gave something soft, or dreamy. So when the chorus came the mood changed to…like…intense passion. _

"_I will admit it, if you admit itIt's harder than we both thoughtIt's easier to fall apartLook where we are _

_I can forgive it, I can't forget ityou left me here with all these scarsand you can't deny the hardest partI'm not in your arms…"_

_As soon as the chorus ended it went back to the normal beat, and I continued: _

"_We're more hurt than we appearThe world will never knowWe both have tasted tearsMy dear _

_You're denying what I sayDon't act like it's okayCuz it's not okay…"_

---

Rodney Skinner and Tom Sawyer ran for their lives down the street in laughter. Once or twice they looked back over their shoulders. They pushed some people behind them, leaving them pitiful looks.

"HA! Oh god, Rodney that was…the best fun I've had in a long time." Tom found it hard to find his words.

"Aha! Yeah, yeah I know." They stopped short to catch their breath. Leaning over in exhaustion, Rodney laid his hand on Tom's back, and Tom pressed his hands on his knees, both aching for support.

"I…can't believe…they didn't catch us that was so close…" Tom once again looked over his shoulder.

"What are an invisible man and an American spy to do, eh? We're naturals!" The two friends broke into exhausted laughter, and found their balance to stand upright.

"Right, well I'm burnt out tired. I'm gonna head back to the Nautilus for the night. You comin?"

Just then Rodney heard music coming from down the street. Just barely he could see a show going on, and to his surprise he saw who it was exactly that was performing. Tom didn't seem to notice.

"Well?" Tom pressed.

"Actually…" Rodney kept his gaze on the show. "I think I'll head up with you later, Tom."

Tom still didn't seem to notice what it was that Rodney was staring at. And frankly, he didn't seem to care. "Alright well I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Right."

As Tom walked away, Rodney slowly paced down the street until he caught up with the show. Standing in the back, he watched and listened intently as his friend sang, hanging his hands in his pockets and with a wide smirk across his face.

---

_Once again the chorus rung with a faster tone, and the lyrics sprang out of my mouth._

"_I will admit it, if you admit itIt's harder than we both thoughtIt's easier to fall apartLook where we are _

_I can forgive it, I can't forget ityou left me here with all these scarsand you can't deny the hardest partI'm not in your arms…"_

_Then as the third verse came around, my voice didn't spring out as usual this time. It was a little more intense. Intensely loud, that is. That was because when I saw Rodney come out from the back of the audience just standing there with that huge grin on his face, the meaning of the lyrics really kicked in._

"_It's not in the cards…It's not in the stars!"_

_My eye contact with him was direct, and I was beginning to get the intense feeling we had there. The lights seemed to get brighter as I went through that third verse, but the music to my ears, the people, the feeling, everything…seemed to block out almost. It was like the only person watching me was him…_

_And he was the only one I cared about. _

"_I'm not sorry! I'm not sorry!You're not sorry!I will admit it, if you admit it…Just please, don't flatter …don't flatter…yourself."_

_The song ended for everyone else, but not me. It kept going on and on when I walked off the stage, the audience cheered, and I walked up to Rodney in the back, still standing there with that smirk on his face. The look of it made me smile as well._

"_So? How'd I do?" _

_I was so happy then. I felt…like…super flirty with him; I have no idea why I acted that way._

"_You were great. Lovely voice."_

_I smiled. "Thanks." _

"_Since when do you sing?" the smirk never failed._

"_Since now, I guess."_

"_Well you're really good. You should stay to claim your prize." His grin grew even wider than it already was. I didn't think that was possible._

"_Aha-um…I didn't win. That Claude Debussy guy definitely did."_

"_You sure? I think you're a prize."_

"_Mm…" I twisted my body back and forth._

_A few minutes of silence lasted between us. We stared into each other's eyes…or me staring into his sunglasses, really…and smiling at each other. After a few, long lasting minutes Rodney finally said something._

"_You want to have dinner?"_

_That startled me. I had never thought for him to say anything like that. I looked at him, asking him telepathically if he was kidding or not, but I don't think he was._

"_I mean, I'm real hungry. What about you? You up for a bite to eat?"_

"_Starving." was the only thing that came out of my mouth. I had no control over it; all I knew was that I was acting real serious with him, and my eye contact was direct._

"_Well alright then. I saw this restaurant down the street that seemed worth checking out."_

"_Sure."_

"_Hope you don't mind seafood after eating it all the time on the Nautilus."_

_We began walking down the street side by side._

"_I don't mind seafood. I like it."_

_We continued to walk in silence for a few minutes._

_As we got halfway down the street we stopped at a wide building decorated with several strings of lights and decorations. People were seen through the windows happily eating their food, and classical music played softly through the inside and out. We greeted a man at the door, dressed in a black formal suit and had brown thick hair and a matching moustache that was curled up at the sides in some Italian form. _

"_Table for two?"_

"_Right. Table for two." said Rodney. The man led us through the building and masses of tables occupied by Englishmen and women. The restaurant had a dark burgundy carpet and deep velvety red wallpaper. A bar lay on the left wall, where several people were seated upon it; drinking, flirting, and having a good time. We were led to a flight of stairs to the side of the bar, and up it came another floor, all occupied tables. Going out the restaurant and through the back doors viewed a small patio which laid 4 sets of tables and chairs. We were seated to the last one, set against the railing of lights, and the view of Plymouth, England was set upon us. It was beautiful at night; everything was lit up and the music made the feel all so soothing. The weather was warm but in a calm way. I sat down on the right side of the rounded table, and Rodney sat down on the other side, obviously._

_A waitress then appeared at the table. She was in her thirties, with big breasts and black, beautiful hair. Nice golden skin, perfect teeth…you know, the works. Made me look like hell compared to her. If only it was our character we were comparing…then I wouldn't have a problem with hell. _

"_What will it be then?"_

_I didn't even look at the menu. I had no idea what I was going to get. Rodney had the same thoughts. He, too, was too occupied with talking. I just quickly looked over the specialty section and picked the best thing there._

"_Seafood linguini, please." I handed the waitress my menu, and took a sip of water as I watched Rodney seem surprised at my quick reflexes. He picked something quickly as well, and handed the pretty waitress his menu. I think he ordered some kind of fish filet. _

"_Anything to drink? Wine, perhaps?"_

"_Yes, please. Some nice red wine would be nice." Rodney said, all too quickly I thought._

"_I—uh…mm…" I tried to say something, but before I could really find any words to get out of my mouth the waitress was gone with the order. _

"_Rodney, I-I don't…"_

"_What?"_

"_I…er…"_

"_You don't what?"_

"_The wine…"_

"_Don't drink?"_

"_No, its not that…well not technically, it's just…"Rodney looked at me like he was trying to figure me out, and it was confusing him. I sighed._

"_Never mind."_

"_You sure?"_

"_Fine."_

"_Okay, then."_

_Once again silence rested upon us for a few minutes. After a minute or two I raised my eyebrow and twisted my head around the setting like I was too mesmerized to realize where we were._

"_So…"_

"_Hm?" Rodney perked his head up just a bit._

"_Is this like…"_

_Rodney crossed his eyebrows slightly. "Like what?"_

"_A date?"_

_He smiled and bowed his head. He was chuckling slightly._

"_If you want it to be." as he said this he rested his jaw on his left hand._

_I raised my eyebrow again, even higher...and couldn't contain my smile._

"_Well what makes a date?" I could tell he was enjoying this._

"_Well…a nice restaurant…music…a passionate conversation…a more-than-friends relationship…either that or making out in the back seats of the movies…really depends on your style." I smiled at that._

"_A movie?"_

"_You know…motion picture?"_

"_Oh, those. Well…as much as I'd love to do the movie thing, we're pretty set for now at the restaurant. So…sure! Yeah, this can be a date, then." his never-ending smile showed that he was __definitely__ enjoying this. _

"_We have a more-than-friends relationship?"_

"_Don't we?"_

"_I don't know. Do we?"_

"_Well I would hope so."_

_At this point the waitress had come back with our food (that was quick), followed by a waiter that held our wine. She set our plates in front of us, and with a cheer the man opened the bottle, flying the cork off the balcony. The 'pop' noise it created made me jump just a bit. Rodney chuckled._

_Right now, the food wasn't looking all too good, considering I imagine it as throw-up. I can't have wine! It's not legal to drink at…_

_Oh well._

_I'm legal at the moment...sort of…I think…I don't know._

_The man filled our glasses half-way, and then set the bottle in an ice-filled bucket. _

"_Cheers, love…to a lovely singer, and a possible more-than-friends relationship."_

_We clanked glasses, and I took the glass to hold it up to my nose. It smelled vilely like alcoholic grapes. _

_Well, wine is made from grapes, anyway._

…

_It still smelled bad._

_I looked up and Rodney was drinking his wine, almost done. I thought I would barf._

_Instead I dug into my linguini. It was ok. Too much oil, though. I guess this is the downside of not looking over the menu. _

_I could tell I wouldn't be able to finish it anyway. I always had a problem with finishing my food. I get full way too easily._

_I just realized that because the linguini was so oily, I got thirsty easily. And joy, the only thing to drink was wine. I had already drunk all the water._

"_Food's good." he hadn't looked up. Good thing too, 'cause then he wouldn't be able to notice my expression. _

"_Mm-hmm…" I faced back down into my food, eating it slow until Rodney finished his dinner._

"_You haven't touched the wine." he glimpsed his eyes to me as I faced him, wide-eyed and startled._

"_It's alright if you don't want it, I'm just saying." He faced his food again._

"_Oh, sorry. Just…don't want to drink all that much tonight."_

"_Any reason why?"_

"_Don't want to get drunk?"_

_He laughed._

"_Take it from someone who knows…a glass of wine isn't going to get you drunk."_

_With hesitation and most likely a grossed-out face I took a sip of wine._

_It tasted exactly how I'd imagined it…unpleasant. I drank more in time, however…courteously. _

_So once again I dug into the linguini. _

"_So what else?" he said. He didn't startle me this time._

"_So what else what?"_

"_What else makes a date?"_

_Rodney pulled his head up to face me and I forced back the smirk._

"_Well the guy normally pays for the food."_

"_Well ok, I was planning to do so."_

"_Were you?"_

"_Of course. A man doesn't take a gal to dinner without expecting to pay for it." Rodney gave me an expression asking what I __did__ expect. _

"_Well…I was curious."_

"_Curious about?"_

"_How'd you get the money?"_

_Rodney seemed very amused by this. He bowed his head in laughter._

"_Because I'm a thief?" _

_I raised my eyebrow and took a sip of the wine, as vial as it was._

"_You don't like me as a thief, do you?"_

"_So it is stolen money."_

"_Maybe."_

"_Mm. Just curious."_

"_You don't have a problem with it, then?"_

"_No. I don't mind you're a thief, pay with someone else's money…it's who you are."_

"_Better or worse?"_

"_Exactly."_

"_Heh…well, thanks." he sipped his wine in response._

"_Mm. You are a gentlemen thief, after all."_

"_Of course."_

_I couldn't tell how long we sat there staring at each other. Our food was mostly finished with, the wine was almost gone to my surprise,(for I did feel a little unstable) and the waitress was going to come in a few minutes._

_When she did come, Rodney paid the check right then and there with the crinkled up bills from that he retrieved from his boot…which I found to be an interesting place to hide one's money…and we got up out of our seats._

"_Well I don't know about you, but I would have called that a date."_

"_Oh? And why is that?"_

"_Well, we ate at a nice restaurant, there was nice music playing…a nice view might I add, I paid for the meal, and I would say we now have a more-than-friends relationship."_

"_Because we went out to dinner?"_

"_Not just that, no. I mean…our relationship is quite close." he smiled._

_I pondered for a moment._

"…_prove it."_

_Apparently we must have been pretty close when I said that, because it was real easy for him to just lean in on me and press his slightly puckered lips on mine. _

_The kiss lasted long, I could say that much. Long and passionate. After we released lips, we stared into each others eyes closely for a second or two, until once again his lips forced onto mine. _

_As the kisses got shorter and faster, our bodies got closer…and I could feel one of his hands go up my spine, which felt fairly good might I add, and his other hand lightly contacted the side of my face. In return my arms grasped his shoulders._

_We were still at it when I figured I had no idea what came over me. For my first kiss it was very nice. I'll give the rogue his props; he's a good kisser. But I didn't love him…at least I didn't think so. To tell you the truth, the one person that I was attracted to at first was Henry. But I'm pretty sure he likes Mina. And I'm very sure Mina likes him. Isn't Mina married, anyway? Well…no. Her husband died._

…

_I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who killed him…just saying._

_But anyway, I guess Roddy would have to do. _

_So…after a couple more minutes of interlocking and parting our lips, the caressing of my back and the craziness that went on in my head, we finally stopped with a heavy intake of breath. _

_Rodney smiled, his lips still barely touching mine. _

"_What?"_

_He continued to smile, and then started to laugh a bit._

…

_I think I just realized why._

"_I have grease paint all over me, don't I?" I closed my eyes in despair._

_He laughed even harder. "Yeah…"_

"_Great."_

_I lifted my hand from his shoulder to wipe it away, but he beat me to it. As his thumb wiped my lips he looked me in the eye and smiled very slightly. _

"_So…is that proof enough for you?"_

_I hesitated for a minute. _

"_No…it isn't."_

_Rodney backed his head from me about an inch to study my expression. He gave me a half amused, half confused look. _

_And then I finally realized what I had said. Rodney's expression showed exactly what it was that I had said. He'd got it in his head that when a girl says no to a guy when he asks if a kiss is proof enough for them to be more than friends, it means more as 'no…its not enough' rather than 'no…it isn't since I might love someone else but I don't think it would work out because he likes someone else and she likes him too'._

_We led ourselves out of the restaurant, and hauled a carriage to take us back to the Nautilus. He insisted me a 'ladies first' when we were entering the coach, and the horses started going after he followed me inside._

_I hadn't expected him to do anything inside the coach, but he proved me wrong by tenderly kissing the bottom of my neck as soon as it started going. His hands were placed gently on my shoulder and around my back. My head tilted to the side for him to progress his kisses to my upper portion of my neck…and by closing my eyes, it really did feel good._

_Its not that I don't want this to be happening…it's just that I don't want it to go too far, where in the end I know it would be Rodney that would end up getting hurt._

_But then again, I'm sure he's done all this before. _

_Before I knew it we were by the docks, and the Nautilus was shining as beautiful as it ever were in the English Channel. _

_The entryways were wide open, and Nemo's crewmen were bustling around the ship. Getting out of the carriage Rodney and I simply walked inside the ship, down the halls side by side with no interaction, and as we came down the hall where all our cabins were Rodney grasped my hand, opened the door to his cabin, and pulled me inside. _

_After closing the door he immediately approached me, grasping his arms around my body and leaning his head under mine to give into the kiss. It went on vigorously, and I could feel our bodies thrusting towards the bed behind us. My body hit it first, and we plunged atop the blankets and pillows, still at one another. My left knee bent for my leg to trap the rogue's body as his right hand embraced the side of my waist. His hand moved upward to the side of my breast, then to my collar. With his one sticky fingered hand the first button came unbuttoned, then the second, third, and fourth. I felt the cool air hit my bare chest, and then as our lips parted and our eyes opened Rodney quickly shook off his coat and continued to the kiss; his hat, gloves and glasses already been taken off long before. Rodney still wore a black sweater and pants and his cash-filled boots. I had no idea what was controlling me…most likely my inner sexual desire…but both my hands moved smoothly down his sweater and to his fastened pants, with the purpose of unfastenment…if that's even a word. In return his hands once again returned to my hips, but this time under my skirt, and began to pull down my undergarments after unfastening my holster-garter belt._

_Grasping his right palm to the edge of the headboard, Rodney entered into me as the kisses lasted. I could feel his tongue push its way through my mouth, and soon enough our kisses had traveled to France…his tongue massaged mine as I did his. The night had lasted long in this matter, passionate as it was. But after a while we died down to a calmer state, and sleep had at last rested upon us._


	12. Possessive Sin

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_I woke up naturally out of my slumber, at slight surprise that I lay in Rodney's bed. He rested behind me, with his arm around my waist and his lips at the back of my neck. My head lifted slightly, and with squinted eyes my head twisted back and forth to test the slightly darkened room. As I attempted to get up, Rodney must have woken as an effect for the arm which had been wrapped around my waist pulled me back down. _

"_No you don't!"_

_He twisted my body slightly to him and elongated his face over mine to give me a few good morning kisses. _

_Smiling, I took his arm and seized it off me. I got up and picked up my belt to fasten it around me; my undergarments already back in its rightful positions. I walked over to the bathroom, and the mirror became my first target. My shirt was still slightly unbuttoned and my bra straps were hanging over my shoulders. As I fixed that, the only thing left that was rather untidy was my bed head hair and white lips from Rodney's makeup._

…

_a-heh…_

_Rodney's makeup…_

_Anyway, I looked over and Rodney was lying sideways on the bed, with his head rested on his palm and staring right at me._

"_May I help you?" I asked._

"_No, not at the moment."_

_I walked out of the bathroom and sat down on a dark wood chair that lay by the right wall. I leaned my palms on my knees as Rodney continued to stare at me._

"_We gonna keep this a secret?" he said finally._

"_What a secret?"_

"_This…us..." _

"_Oh...that…yeah I think it would be best."_

"_Okay. Whatever you want." _

_By this point Rodney struggled to lift his torso and pull the sheet off his body. He grasped his trench coat off the end of the bed, put it on, and walked inside the bathroom. I found this to be a great opportunity. I very quietly slipped out the door, peeking to see if anyone was near the room beforehand. I sprinted on my toes down the hallways to my own room, passing Tom on the way. I simply smiled at him, and he gave me a slightly curious expression by raising his eyebrow. I couldn't imagine why, unless he knew._

_My room was the same as how I left it, and Midnight was curled up on the bed sleeping. I went through my wardrobe to pick out a fresh outfit, and chose a black sweater, black skinny jeans, and knee-high black heeled boots. I ended up looking like a hit woman, but I honestly didn't care. I woke Midnight up with slight difficulty (damn cat likes to sleep), and we walked to the kitchen. Henry was in there, sitting at the dining room table…half eating and half talking to Ed through his watch. I took some meat and other stuff for Midnight to eat and put it in a bowl Nemo had given me especially for her purpose. I was barely able to grab an apricot when Patel walked in._

"_Miss Dover, there is a message waiting for you in the control room."_

_I was only able to take but a bite out of the apricot on our way there. The Captain was standing over the wheel, with his back toward us as we entered. Men were coming up to him and asking questions, giving information, or taking orders. Patel led me to a desk where a slip of paper was waiting on the surface. He handed it to me and it happened to be a bunch of Morse code, then a translation was shown at the bottom._

"_Of course."_

_It had said that I won the contest at Plymouth, and in order to receive my prize I was to give a reply in 24 hours, or return to the town for a personal honor. I was to receive the ability to play for her Majesty, the Queen, and the chance to become one of England's most knowledgeable performers. Out of respect for Nemo and his ship, I couldn't ask him to go all the way back to Plymouth…and I didn't want the prize. I told Patel to reply speaking of my denial for the prize, and my utter most desire for Claude Debussy to obtain it as a replacement. _

_After my orders were followed, I walked up to Captain Nemo, and he greeted me with pleasure._

"_Good morning, Miss Dover."_

"_Please, call me Alisha."_

_He simply nodded with a smile, and then returned his gaze to the gigantic glass window in front of the wheel…out in the open sea. Being we were above the water, I was able to see the sun in the mid-west of the sky, assuming it was about 3:00 in the afternoon. _

"_Where are we headed next?"_

"_Egypt. I desire to explore the Nile and the renowned pyramids and Sphinx of Cairo."_

"_Oh! Egypt! Lovely choice, Nemo. I've always dreamed of traveling there."_

_He smiled. "I'm glad."_

"_How close are we?"_

"_We should arrive in about three two, three days if we stay at a normal pace."_

"_Sounds good, then."_

_I left him at peace to the main halls. I was going to go back to breakfast when Rodney put a stop to it. I felt a slight pinch on my butt. _

"_Ohhh…" I eyed annoyingly where I presumed his face would have been._

"_Ello, love." he whispered._

_I had nothing to say. With my pointer finger I gave a much disciplined expression._

"_Mmm…" and I walked off to breakfast._

_---_

_I can't stand it. I'm sorry, but I just can't. The last three nights were normal, including the nightly visits by Rodney. Each time he would come in and start seducing me like we had an appointment. He would just kiss me until it got late enough where I would make an excuse saying I was too tired for anything more. But he's not what ticked me off._

_When we arrived in Egypt it was more beautiful than I could ever imagine. The automobile drove us right to Cairo, and the one thing that I found to be the downside on the way there was the heat. I was wearing a thick strapped dress; the torso half was of white cotton, and the bottom half was a knee-length beige polyester skirt. My hair was pinned up for the most part with every pin and tie I had to support it. I also wore black suede flat oxfords…very cute. We passed by three towns that lay along the Nile just as Cairo did. Their names were Resseta, Tanta, and Al Jizah, which was basically right next to Cairo it was so close. When we got there, I was honestly amazed at how beautiful it was. The city was nothing that I had imagined it to be. It bustled with people on the marketplace and several animals were being pulled around, explorers traveling all around like us were asking the Egyptians in the native language…it was just so great. I couldn't contain my happiness. We stopped by a marketplace in the city's center…said to be the best. Nemo told us we should get some things while we can before our visit to the pyramids and such. He also said that if any of us needed money we were welcome to ask him. Henry mentioned something about needing to buy extra clothing, since Ed kept ripping them up. I found that funny._

_After about two hours I had come to buy a little statue of the Sphinx and one of a pyramid; both gold. If it was real gold I didn't know, however I doubted it for they were at a good price. I also bought a dark blue/gold silk v-neck dress with short fluttered sleeves, Egyptian lettice embroidery and a ruffled net at the bottom hem. And with matching studded sling back gold heels, gold 'Ankh' necklace, and a dark blue silk headscarf, I must say I was glad with my purchases. I even bought a book on Egyptian history…its past pharos, the curses, the symbols and hieroglyphics, architecture…even the importance of cats. There was a big thing on Cleopatra, too. I was looking in the curse section, however, when I saw her._

_Mina was wearing a dark red dress and headdress, with black boots. Her hair was pinned down and she didn't look the least bit hot…with either meaning. She's a vampiric widow that knows chemistry. I mean…really. If I wasn't jealous enough of Mina as it was, I could have maybe taken aback my emotions. I watched her…she met up with Henry who was buying some extra clothing…and she grasped his hand and kissed his cheek._

"_OOoo!" I didn't realize how loud and aggravated I sounded. A few vendors leaned towards my direction with curious expressions. _

_You know, I'm sure Henry didn't mind a woman who sucked blood, considering his expression when she kissed him._

_But I'm sure if Henry knew how bad Mina really was, he wouldn't like her as much. _

_Because if Henry didn't know, I'd show him. My jealousy was rising all too fast. _

_I rushed to the nearest candle and herb shop, buying seven black candles. I asked for them so quick I thought the vendor was going to think I was about to commit murder._

…

_Well, he was close._

_As soon as I bought them I ran off to find a spot to plan this all out. Although I was in a rush, my attention span was distracted by a beautiful jeweled dagger being displayed on one man's cart. It was at an unusually low price for its condition, and the man seemed to want to get rid of it as soon as possible. So I bought it without hesitation. The dagger was beautiful…and it looked severally sharp. _

_I sat down then in a corner, a little off from the bustle of the market place. I could still see Mina and Henry however in the corner of my eye, having a somewhat good time together. Mina seemed basically happy, however Henry looked troublesome. He was looking around for something, it seemed. _

_I started off the spell:_

For this league, we all consume sin. But only one grasps at a witch's pride, making her unable to win. Triumph is blocked by all our wrongdoing…I call upon the gods to make life worth pursuing. Show upon the witch's heart to her fellow foe, and the sin that prevails each one of us. Attest the ones we know!

_Hm…sounds good. Rhymes well enough. _

---

Later that night when they were all tired from the days shopping the league all retired for dinner at the Nautilus, which was skimming down the Nile in all its glory. Many people seemed afraid of the ship and its magnificent grandeur. Mina and Henry, Tom and Rodney, and Captain Nemo were all waiting for Alisha to come and join them. Of course by now they all gained the sense to be courteous of waiting, but the league was beginning to be impatient for they were pretty hungry.

"Where could she be? Hey, does anyone want to go find her? Maybe she's going to skip dinner today and she's in her cabin." Said Tom, rubbing his belly.

"I'll go." said Rodney a little too fast. Henry made a slight change in his expression.

Rodney pushed open the large white doors of the dining room and was taken aback to what lay right outside the door.

Alisha was in a meditative position in the middle of the hall, with seven black candles surrounding her. She was mumbling something hard to understand, but the longer she mumbled the higher the flames grew.

"Uhhh…." Rodney had no idea what to say about his secret lover.

Henry, Mina, Tom and Nemo all fit their heads in the gaps made by Rodney's clothed body in the doorway. When they saw the sight their faces were filled with fear and puzzlement.

"What the hell?" Tom pushed past Rodney to see the full scene. "Yoo-hoo…Alisha? Dinner? Did you forget?"

"She's doing an enchantment…oh my god…" said Henry.

Alisha suddenly lifted her eyes to him. "Quite the opposite."

Just then, Alisha stopped mumbling, and each member of the league glowed a bit, each a slight different color. Alisha purple, Nemo light pink, Henry half green, half deep red, Mina gold, Rodney a red-pink, and Tom a light blue. They all seemed to feel a little different. Rodney squirmed his body like he got the chills. Tom slouched a bit more than usual. Nemo and Mina seemed to get tense. Henry looked suspicious, and Alisha's posture got much taller and more superior. Nemo was the first one to speak, clearing his throat beforehand.

"Ahem…well, if everyone is ready, I believe dinner is at hand."

"Mmm...dinner!" said Tom.

The league, including Alisha all sat down around the table as usual. Nemo and Tom took more food than usual. So did Mina, who took more lobsters and shrimp than anything from the seafood buffet. Henry took little. Rodney and Alisha took a fair amount.

Nothing was said during dinner besides the questioning of Alisha's spiritual deed.

"So love, what was that marvelous enchantment that came out of those beautiful lips of yours?"

Henry gave Rodney the evil eye.

"Well," started the witch. "My most particular spells were in order. I just had to cast one for my own matters…besides, they never fail...so there is nothing to worry about."

"Yeah but why'd ya do it?" Tom said, slouched in his seat and chewing unmannerly.

"Because it was necessary to eliminate the vampiress' satisfaction." An evil glare was sent in Mina's direction.

"Who, me?" said Mina, seeming the least bit concerned…or if anything, flattered for her source of jealousy.

"Well what did the spell do?" Tom asked.

"Its purpose was to enhance her sin."

"Why? What do you want from me?" she said in response. Mina pat her mouth with her napkin, and then signaled to one of Nemo's men to fetch her something, too low for anyone else to hear.

"I will be the superior in this league, whether any of you like it or not. And I will do anything to make that happen. Even if it means taking the love away from you and Henry."

Rodney raised his eyebrow. "Ooh, I love a woman with a good amount of pride."

"Oh I know you do. Who wouldn't?" she said.

"Why do _you_ get to be the superior one?" Henry asked with his arms crossed.

"Because I _am_."

Henry looked away in frustration.

"Look, I don't know about all of you but I have _excess_ work to do." with that, Nemo left the room. "I'll be in the control room if anyone needs me."

Mina seemed the least bit annoyed as she usually would. She tucked the napkin in her collar and continued to eat her lobster. Nemo's shipmate came back to Mina with a bottle of champagne, and poured her a glass.

"Well if Nemo can be excused, so can I...I'm gonna go back to my cabin to take a nap." Tom said, struggling to get up from his chair.

Alisha's gaze followed him as he walked out the doors. "That boy needs to get his priorities straight. If he's going to have any success in the world he must be on his feet at all costs. It hurts to be lazy like he is."

"Right, well. Alisha…do you want to meet me in my room later? I thought maybe we could…chat." The rogue said, sliding his touch to Alisha's thigh.

"I'm sorry Rodney, but I can't. I'm going to be working on my spells this afternoon."

He shrugged. "Guess I'll have to improvise." He then walked over to Mina and massaged her shoulders, perching kisses on her cheek.

Henry's eyes fired with jealousy. Mina nor Alisha didn't seem the least bit concerned.

After a few more minutes, Rodney seduced Mina with her ignorance. Alisha found a piece of paper and a quill, and started to write down spells as she ate. Henry raged inside with envy as he watched Mina be touched by Rodney…and even more for her not to care. After a while he just stormed out of the room. Neither Alisha, Mina, nor Rodney seemed to notice.

---

_It's been a couple hours since my spell. And…hey, if I'm a powerful witch who can do spells, then why have I been sitting in my cabin writing them if I can be chanting them? I was very confident today, I realized…all of a sudden, I mean. And chanting more spells just didn't feel…right…on my inside. It's like something deep inside of me, like a very tiny conscience is trying to be let out and tell me something…to warn me. I got into a meditative position, and listened to my inner thoughts. But no matter how much I tried to listen the voice got smaller and smaller, enough where I could barely hear it anymore. _

_Sitting in my room all this time, however was getting pretty boring. So I got out of my cabin and began to walk around the halls. Down one hall I heard loud noises, coming from the control room it seemed. As I got to the doorway I saw Nemo conducting his men like crazy…driving them crazy, I mean. I've never seen him like this. He was asking his men with force, almost to do the tasks he gave them. And big ones too! Like, repairing the rudder when it was in motion or something like that. I don't know much about ships, but…_

_Oh…I just felt some kind of jolt in me…_

_Weird…_

_I approached the Captain, standing taller than usual, why I don't know._

"_Good evening, Captain Nemo. Working hard, I see. Can I be of assistance? I'm sure I'll succeed at any duty I'm assigned to."_

"_I'm quite fine, Miss. Dover." He completely ignored me…really. He continued to shout at his men and work on some navigation and all that, not that it seemed important._

_Hm…I just felt that jolt again. But this time it was different._

_I left the control room, completely puzzled. Why was Nemo acting like this? It wasn't like him…_

_I thought I would find Tom next. Maybe he would like to do something fun. I wasn't exactly in the mood to see Rodney, and I was shying away from Henry and Mina for a while now. _

_I knocked on Tom's door, but there was no answer. I knocked again, then when I didn't hear anything I tried the handle, and it was unlocked. I opened the door slightly, and there lay Tom, slouched on his bed with limbs falling off, and a light snore escaping his throat. I crept closer to him._

"_Tom?" I whispered. He didn't hear me._

"_Toooomm…?" I nudged him a bit, but there was still no answer._

"_TOM!"_

_He woke up in a jolt. "WOAH! What, woman? Couldn't you see I was sleepy?"_

"_Somebody's a little cranky this morning…"_

"_I am not!"_

_I raised my eyebrow. Tom looked around the room, and did that thing people do when they wake up—they…like, taste their own saliva? I don't know I couldn't explain it._

"_Mm…Mhmm…MMMMmmm…I'm hungry." He mumbled._

"_You're hungry? You just ate!"_

"_So?"_

"_Uh!" I stood up._

_Tom slowly got up as well and walked to the dining room. I followed him. _

"_Tom, are you even listening to me? I think something strange is going on around here. First Nemo, now you! Your lazy sometimes, but not this lazy!"_

_Hrr…I felt that jolt again…the first one. I stopped as I felt it, and Tom just continued to walk. I looked at him in puzzlement, and then tried to catch up._

_When we reached the dining room, Mina was still there. She was still drinking the champagne, and was now eating some candies, and reading some book. She looked up when we walked in._

"_Alisha…Tom."_

"_Mina." I nodded. Tom mumbled. It sounded like, "Mmremm..." He walked to the table, and then collapsed; holding onto the edge with drowsiness._

_Nemo then walked in at a fast pace. He was stopped by Mina._

"_Oh…Captain. When are we going back to the marketplace? I'm in the mood for some shopping…" she smiled._

"_Tomorrow we will head back out." And with that, he fled out of the kitchen. _

_I looked around to the three members around me, and in frustration…no…more like a superior feel, where I didn't think it was right to be around them…I stormed into the halls. I was halfway down it when I felt my body be pinned to the wall. Soon after that I felt smooches all over my jaw, neck, and chest, and __serious__ feels on my glutes. I tried to get him off but Rodney wouldn't let me go. I was going to reason with him when out of nowhere my knee kicked up to hit him in the nuts, and then I back flipped him…smacking him back-first on the floor with a loud thump._

_That scared me. I had no control over that, and he sounded really hurt. And furthermore, I never knew how to flip someone before._

"_Mm…I love my woman aggressive!" _

"_Whaa—what?"_

_Just after that I heard Tom come up from behind me. He was chewing on a piece of bread. He tried to talk at the same time. "I eard a ump." _

_I believe his words were supposed to be 'I heard a thump'. _

"_Right…um…" _

_I felt the second spark again. "Well Rodney pinned me down so I…ah-heh…shook him off."_

_I had absolutely no control over those words. I felt strange, and slightly frightful, but the more I felt those jolts the more confident I felt. _

…

_And then I realized._

_I looked at Tom chewing, and staring at me boorishly. _

_I looked at the spot where Rodney hit the floor, and heard him struggle to get up._

_I watched as Nemo storm down the hall._

_I thought of Mina still in the dining room indulging._

_I thought of the abnormal confidence level I was getting._

_Tom was extra lazy… _

_Rodney was extra lustful…_

_Nemo was overindulging in his work…_

_Mina was acting very 'high-class'… _

_I was acting very prideful…_

_Wait! That's it! _

_Pride! It's one of the seven deadly sins, just like Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed which over took the other league members! I figured it out…my spell must have enhanced the sins of all the league members, instead of just Mina. I felt a strong jolt again._

_Then I remembered Henry…he seemed envious earlier…so he must have gotten Envy. _

_But then that just leaves Wrath. But who?_

…_oh my…_

_Then I heard it. I heard the loudest roar in all my lifetime. Not for just Hyde, for any animal for that matter. Down the hall there came an explosion, it seemed. A large crash sound was made, and the wall shattered into several pieces. Edward Hyde, angrier than ever stormed down the halls ready to murder someone. _

"_Oh boy!" _

_Nemo was the only one who seemed to care. In fact, he seemed to care for all of us. Screaming for his men, I tried to snap the other members out of the spell…out of their sin._

"_Tom…your sin of Sloth is being enhanced! Rodney, yours for Lust and Mina for Greed! You have to snap out of it!" I could tell I was panicking…but what scared me was that they couldn't. _

_The only responses I got where Tom's yawn and Rodney's continuous kisses on the side of my neck. Edward screamed at us as his pace grew faster, and the halls begun to shake. _

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" _

"_Oh, shit!" I was about to run when the rest I could only tell as an observer. _

_I had no control over my actions. All I felt was a very intense jolt in my body, and then after that I couldn't do anything. The pride was controlling my body for me. _

_So, in my opinion, because no one was listening I was prideful enough to defend everyone. _

---

Alisha shoved Rodney off, and then squat down to spring into a bunch of front-flips, until she met up with Edward. He grasped at her throat, yet she caught him off guard by ducking the grab. The witch then jumped up near his chest, and flung a kick at his torso, sending the monster back several feet.

_Hm. I never thought I could kick that hard, either._

Alisha pranced over to Edward, taking a vial from her holster. Before the brute could have the chance to get up, Alisha slammed her foot into his chest, and raised the vial.

"Goodbye, brute!" she said with a vigorous tone.

_NO!_ "NO!" Alisha's left hand stopped the right hand from flinging the potion into Edward's face.

For a few seconds Alisha struggled between her two arms. The league gave curious expressions, seeming to snap out of their sin a bit to realize what was happening.

Apparently, Alisha and her Pride were struggling in the attempt to kill Edward Hyde.

_Edward…_"Edward…" Alisha was able to control her voice and her arm as a struggle to keep her friend alive.

Alisha gave a great effort to close her eyes and concentrate. Words fought to come out, as the throw of the potion was still being dealt with.

"Enhancement of sin…

…we once set you free…" Alisha found it harder to speak, as the pride was fighting back…hard.

"…I now ask…to retreat…

…and let us be!"

Once again, the league glowed. Edward deep red and slightly green for Henry, Mina gold, Tom light blue, Nemo pink, and Rodney pink-red. When Alisha glowed purple, it was very bright, and blinded the league a bit. The witch gave off a shout of pain, and then something strange happened.

"NO!" It was more of a grumble than a shout. Alisha once again attempted to throw the vial at Edward, but in time the monster got out of the way, the vial hit the floor with a smash, and the floor burned powerfully fast. She was about to attack him again when Rodney caught her from behind.

"You're not going anywhere." He said calmly.

"LET ME GO!" The possessed witch struggled against the invisible man's grasp, but he was too strong, and wouldn't let her go.

Mina walked up, attempting to help. She caught a glimpse of Alisha's glowing lilac eyes. "What do we do? Hold her down for the rest of her life? Reason with her?" Mina's eyes glowed red, battling with Alisha's stare.

"I don't think they'll be any need for that, Mrs. Harker." Nemo said.

"You're a disgrace!" Rodney shouted, still pinning her down in his invisible grasp.

"NO!"

"You're spell on Mina didn't work! Look what it turned us into…what it turned _you_ into!"

"My spell worked fine!"

"No it didn't! It backfired on you! You're a terrible witch! How do you even call yourself one?"

Alisha started glowing purple again, this time dimmer than before.

"It's working…" said Edward.

"Remember that time in the fjord? You fainted in the cave! We had to come looking for you!"

"No…" her response was more of a cry.

"You know I even wonder why you're in this league, anyway. I'm beginning to think that you were the one who knocked out Henry in the first place."

Alisha still struggled, but now only mumbled.

"Oh…and by the way, you sing bad." He looked to her, and Alisha made a face.

Just then, Edward emerged into Henry. With a thought appearing in her mind, Mina walked over to Henry and gave him a forceful, passionate kiss.

"Noo!" Alisha shouted, and stopped the struggling. Falling on her knees out of Rodney's grasp, the purple glow had disappeared.

Rodney perked his head next to Alisha's face as she breathed heavily.

"You back, love?"

"Yeah…I'm back." Alisha looked around the room, and then flipped her head back to Rodney.

"You know you just ridiculed me like…five times, right?"

Rodney laughed. "I'm sorry."

"How did you know?" Tom asked, now coming forward when it was safe.

"Well, the only way to get rid of pride is humility."

"How would you know?" he asked.

"I didn't."

"Oh, gee thanks." Alisha said.

The league ended the night in laughter.

---

_The rest of the trip to Cairo was basically fun. We explored the city, and saw the pyramids, the Sphinx, got some more supplies, etc. It lasted about two days until we went back to the ship and out to sea again. I think the Captain said we were going to Kenya next, where the league's former member Allan Quatermain was buried. The members, especially Tom felt it be best to visit the grave since we were passing by that way. They told me of Allan on their former trip. He seems like a very stern person from what I know. But, eh…I can't judge. Besides, I didn't know him. So visiting his grave might be a little awkward. But if he was an important person to the league, then I'll pay my respects. _

_During the mean time Rodney visited, once again apologizing for his several remarks. It was different between us. Almost as if he thought of me as someone to care about more than get with, considering that he saved my life from the overtaking pride. I think he did it a little too well…my pride feels less that usual. I could see why, though…I don't think I could say pride is my best quality anymore. It's funny how I yelled out when Mina kissed Henry. I don't know if Rodney noticed, but Henry sure did. You should have seen his face…he was so surprised and unexpected._

_But about their previous mission, Rodney once mentioned a guy who Mina knew, and they were together during the time Mina didn't know of his betrayal. Heh…that must suck for her._

_Man am I mean!_

…

_Oh well!_

_But anyway, I was curious about this guy. He seemed like an ally. A smart ally, too. I asked Rodney his name, and he said it was Dorian Grey. I heard of him, I think. I heard about this guy who never really aged, and how he died when his painting was stabbed with a knife. But that confused me, because Rodney said that Mina had killed him too._

…

_Oh so she killed Dorian, after she was a widow?_

_Hmm..._

_Interesting._

_But maybe it was a fake death like Henry? No it couldn't be…well, anyway, I had an idea._

_I set up a bunch of candles in my cabin, locked the doors, and started to enchant:_

"_Spirits of discovery, morale of location, Dorian Grey I never got to meet. Clandestinely deceiving, then overtaken; now this man I wish to greet. Lest not he be dead, only if he lives near, that I call upon his name…bring the man here."_

_In a whirl of wind, a man with medium length, brown wavy hair and a goatee appeared. He wore a grey (heh-ironic) pinstriped suit, and held a cane. Looked a little prissy, if you ask me. Handsome…but prissy._

"_Who are you?" he asked, pretty concerned as to why he was where he was._

"_A witch. I summoned you, Mr. Grey."_

"_A witch?" he looked at me, then around the room. "My…are we in the Nautilus?"_

"_Yeah. And I summoned you for a reason, so sit down."_

_I waved my hand to the bed, and a force brought him there._

"_How'd you do that?"_

"_I'm a witch, remember?"_

"_Right…a powerful one, I see."_

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah…so anyway…why are you alive, in the first place?"_

"_What kind of question is that?"_

"_Alright, Mr. Prissy-pants I'm not dumb. I know about your former membership and betrayal of the league…which I am a part of myself might I add…"_

"_The membership or the betrayal?"_

"_Membership…but by doing this I'm pretty sure I'm going by the betrayal part. So anyway…I also know about the painting. I even know how Mina killed you by making you see the painting yourself, and how you were also killed a while back when someone stabbed it. But I guess they never really killed you if you're here, now am I right?"_

"_You are a smart witch…" he eyed me carefully. "You summoned me to ask me that question?"_

"_No. I summoned you because I have Mina problems."_

"_Mina? Oh is she still alive? Suck any blood lately?"_

"_Ha ha, very funny. Great. Well. I don't like her. So I was thinking maybe we could make a compromise."_

"_A compromise?"_

"_Yeah. I ask you to haunt Mina for me. Whether you get her back with you or break her apart with Henry, or even just scare her…I don't care. Just do something with her?"_

"_Henry? Do you mean the brute?"_

"_Well, technically no…but yeah. Henry, Edward…same concept."_

_He laughed. "She's with him, now? Well…that's certainly interesting."_

"_Mm."_

"_How's the American holding up? He flirted a bit with her."_

"_Ha…yeah he's uh…he's pretty put down about it."_

"_Well that's nice to see."_

_I smiled at him…no idea why. He looked at me, a little confused._

"_And what will I get out of the bargain?"_

"_Uh…a chance for revenge on the league at the expense of not being able to be killed? Obviously your painting isn't around in range of a member getting at it."_

"_And how would they know what to do with it anyway?"_

"_Exactly…considering it was stabbed and revealed to you, how would they know what would kill you next?"_

_He gave a devious grin._

"_Yet of course, I know. And I can get your painting as easily as how I got you. So I wouldn't try anything funny."_

_He laughed. "Oh…you know how to kill me. And what would that be?"_

"_To burn the painting, of course."_

_His face became cautious._

"_Now look who's laughing." I smiled…and he gulped._

"_Look…I just want Mina to get away from Henry. And I have a plan." This time I gave him the devious grin. _

---

Tom was walking down the hall eating an apple when he saw Alisha's cabin door fly open. Dorian Grey walked out of the room, holding a knife at Alisha's throat, who struggled for her life. Tom, stunned, dropped his apple.

"What the?"

Dorian, with Alisha, walked past Tom and gave him a smirk.

"Grey?" Tom just stood there as they paced past him, obviously puzzled and shocked out of his mind. Once he regained conscious he ran after them. They were leading toward the library.

Mina, Henry, Nemo and Rodney were all in the library. Mina was reading, Henry was fidgeting with his watch, Nemo was looking over the shelves, and Rodney was studying his next move in a chess game. As Dorian came into the door with Alisha at her throat, the league all stood up, stunned and cautious.

"Well, hello Mina dear."

"I thought I killed you." Her voice was cold.

"Well look where I stand now." Dorian smiled in all his glory. Alisha simply looked away from the knife which Dorian swerved against her skin.

"I'll make a deal…I have Mina, and you have the little witch."

"Is it revenge now, Dorian?" Mina said, walking closer.

"A-a-ah! Come any closer and I slit her throat."

Just then, a loud bang was heard. Apparently Tom tried to hit Dorian over the head with his gun, but the man didn't feel a thing.

Dorian turned his head as Tom smiled. "Heh…hi." Alisha snickered, and Dorian focused his gaze to the rest of the league.

"Of course you haven't forgotten I'm an immortal?" The league's faces became grave.

"And to be sure none of you try anything funny," Dorian slid his free hand down Alisha's side, to her thigh, and pulled a vial from her holster. "I'll burn you to ash."

Alisha cut in. "Oh, actually its more like residue…not quite ash." Dorian shut her up by closing the knife on her throat.

"So what's it gonna be?"

The league exchanged expressions. "Fine…I'll go."

Mina cautiously walked to Dorian, who began to slowly release Alisha. Once she was close enough, Dorian grasped her arm. "Now!" he said.

"Abscond by my dominion; this witch now calls away by our opinion. No more shall we seek the one with no demise; the one with the aged disguise… Dorian Grey I now have met leaves us now with no regret."

In a whirl of wind, Dorian and Mina disappeared within seconds. Tom, Nemo, Rodney and Henry all looked around frantically, then to Alisha.

"What did you do?" asked Henry.

And in a blink of an eye, Alisha had vanished.

---

The whirling wind appearing in Alisha's room after a day since the incident.

Dorian walked out of the flurry, straightening his blazer. His eyes met the vision of Alisha holding his painting in one hand, and holding an inflamed match underneath it with the other hand.

"Wait!"

Alisha raised her eyebrow. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Look…I did what you asked. I took Mina away from the league, away from your precious Henry…"

By squinting her eyes Alisha caused the flame to rise higher, closer to the painting. Dorian became seriously frightened.

"You took away Mina, and I congratulate you. But by your pesky little word, 'now', they suspect I was allied with you!"

"I—"

"You help me fix this, and the painting is yours."

Dorian stopped to consider, when his face gave the expression of an idea.

---

Nemo walked down the halls in a hurried manner when he spotted Alisha's body. The Captain ran as soon as he realized who it was, and knelt down to her side. He shook her side. "Miss. Dover."

As soon as he called her name the witch perked up out of unconsciousness.

"Wha? Oh…Nemo…where's that guy in the grey suit, brown hair…stole potion…" she attempted to get up, looking around the halls like Dorian was just there.

"Ms. Dover, slow down…what happened?"

"I'm not sure…I was in my room reciting summoning spells, when some guy appeared and stole a bunch of my potions after knocking me out…" Alisha rubbed the back of her head.

Alisha explained what happened to the league in the dining room. "I believe he stole my potion of illusion."

"Potion of illusion?" asked Henry and Tom, almost in unison.

"Yeah…you can create any kind of illusion…make things, people, places appear out of no where."

"Would that explain the Alisha disappearing out of thin air?" asked Rodney. Even he was a little taken aback, considering the thought that she would have betrayed them as Dorian had.

"Huh?" Alisha rubbed her head again.

"Do you want me to see to that?" asked Henry.

"What?"

"Your head." Alisha suddenly realized what he was talking about.

"Oh…no that's ok."

Nemo looked at Alisha warily.

"So why trick us into thinking that Alisha was betraying us?" asked Henry.

"Okay! Can someone fill me in, here? I've only been unconscious for…oh, I don't know…a whole day where apparently Mina was kidnapped?"

"Heh…welcome back." Said Rodney. Alisha gave a sarcastic smile.

"Alright…after you were knocked out, I'm guessing Dorian used your potion to make another Alisha. He pretended to have a knife to your throat so he was able to trick us into giving him Mina, thinking we would save _you_." Said Tom.

"Okay I get that, but what about the spell?" asked Henry, slightly saddened by Mina's abduction.

Alisha was rubbing her head so much; Nemo seemed to take notice on how fake it really was. Once she realized, the witch immediately stopped rubbing.

"Spell?"

"The apparently alternate Alisha cast a spell that made Dorian and Mina disappear into a flurry of air, and then Alisha disappeared in a blink of an eye immediately after.

Alisha closed her eyes, pretending to be in pain. "Well when you use the potion to make a someone, they normally have the same traits as the real one, in order to make it more realistic…nice little potion if I must say so myself…"

The league stared at Alisha.

"Sorry…well anyway, if Grey made me, the illusion must have casted a spell to send Dorian and Mina somewhere to escape."

"Could you cast a spell to bring her back?" asked Rodney.

"I can try." Alisha pondered for a moment.

"Uh…Our vampire has been captured by a man in gray, bring her forth so she can stay."

Nothing happened, so the witch continued.

" No tricks, no games, just let her be, we want our friend with guarantee."

Still, nothing happened.

"Damnit…you know what, I think we should try a different approach."

Alisha held out her hands.

"Bring it forth, the painting near, the one Mr. Grey holds so dear. I want it now, so he can arrive, with our friend Mina…hopefully alive." She mumbled that last part.

Dorian's painting appeared in Alisha's hands. "Mmm…uglier than ever! Nemo, can you find me a match?"

As the wind appeared, Dorian fell out with Mina as soon as Alisha was given the match. And as soon as Dorian noticed his eternal life's source almost in the risk of going up in flames, Alisha struck the match.

"Thanks a lot, Dorian." She smiled…with absolutely no sarcasm in her voice.

Up in flames went the painting…along with Dorian. His body didn't lay there as a corpse, no ash was found, but his body became an outburst of flames; an explosion or vanquish, really. Alisha looked around, saw Mina, and nodded her head in accomplishment.

"Okay…so…Grey's dead, Mina's alive…_people are happy_…" no one noticed the emphasis on 'people'.

"Well aren't you a ray of triumph?" said Rodney, appearing to be the only one who wasn't focused on Mina.

"Isn't it _ray of sunshine_?"

Rodney shrugged, and Alisha shook her head as if to say 'what will I ever do with you?'

Alisha noticed the league ignoring her.

"Seems like some people can't appreciate one's hard work and rhyming, for that matter…"

Rodney chuckled. "I guess they're just a little cautious about the whole 'siding-with-Grey' theory."

"Hmm…I wouldn't blame them." Alisha mumbled.

"What was that?" asked Rodney.

"Oh nothing…nothing at all."

On the outside, Alisha showed her guiltless manner…but on the inside, the witch she really was grinned evilly of treacherous conquest.


	13. Zombie Man

_**Taken In Again**_

_Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already._

_Although the league was weary of my reliance to them, it eventually went away in time. Mina still never seemed to like me anyway, but honestly I didn't care. I don't blame her, though. I mean, how would you feel if someone cast a spell on you to get your man?_

_But still, I'm not exactly convinced that Henry is completely…enjoying his relationship with Mina. And that's not the jealousy talking…it's my instincts. You should see his expressions. They look too…I don't know…uncomfortable? _

_But anyway, we were on our way to Kenya when we made a pit stop at the coast of Douala, Cameroon. There, at the coast, there was a big commotion going on. A bunch of people were crowding up to see something. Captain Nemo seemed to be the most interested in the event. As we got closer through the crowd, we realized the attention was coming from a man who had visited, telling the tales of his adventures. His name was Samuel Ferguson._

_Oh! I know him! He was the owner of the Victoria, that large hot air balloon. It seems as if that's what he came there for. He was telling of his exploration over Africa; what he saw and did I guess. He told the Cameroonians about the time when their balloon was being pulled by the tusks of an elephant, and the time when some tribe had mistaken them for gods. I remember those parts from the book. Then I remembered that Nemo's story was written by the same author, Jules Verne. No wonder he was the most interested…or knowledgeable of Ferguson for that matter. _

"_Doctor Ferguson!" he exclaimed, raising his arms in a 'good-to-finally-see-you-again' manner. To be honest, it surprised me._

"_Why, Captain Nemo! So good to see you!"_

_Mmm. I was right. The league looked the most confused, and even more confused as to why I wasn't. I whispered to their direction. "Samuel Ferguson…captain of the Victoria." _

_Some of the members nodded._

"_How is she?" said Nemo. I'm guessing he was talking about the balloon._

"_Beautiful as ever. What brings you here at Cameroon?"_

"_Pit stop. We're on our way to Kenya, to visit a friend's grave."_

"_I see." Samuel glanced over to the league, and made his way over to us._

"_Samuel Ferguson." He introduced, bowing._

_The captain introduced for us._

"_Samuel, this is Dr. Henry Jekyll, Mina Harker, Rodney Skinner, Alisha Dover, and Tom Sawyer."_

_Samuel seemed to be puzzled. "Dr. Jekyll…why, I've heard you were dead!" _

_Henry made a very exasperated face. "Well apparently not if here I stand." He said calmly._

"_Yes I can see! Such a strange story…and strange creatures I see." He looked over Rodney. "And what an eccentric fellow we have here!"_

_Rodney also made a funny face. "You ever hear of Hawley Griffin?" _

"_Why yes, I believe so. Isn't he the fellow who discovered the means to become invisible?"_

_Rodney took off his glove and illustrated his ability. "Let's just say I'm next of kin."_

"_Marvelous!" the captain touched the invisible hand. _

_Before Doctor Ferguson could finish his excited expression, Captain Nemo exclaimed the rest of the league._

"_Mr. Sawyer here is a member of the American secret service. And Mrs. Harker here is a superb chemist." _

"_Oh, spectacular! It's been so nice to meet all of you! Tell me, what brings all of you extraordinary gentlemen together?" _

_I raised my eyebrows to the term 'extraordinary gentlemen'. _

"_We're actually called that…The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. We're assigned to protect her Majesty's British Government." Tom cut in. _

"_Her Majesty's British Government? Nemo! Well, I wouldn't have expected this much from you!" Ferguson's expression was completely baffled. _

_Nemo bowed his head. "All in time, my friend; evils…and people change."_

"_Well, that's splendid to hear." He looked to us. "My dear friends, did you say it was Kenya you were to visit?" _

"_That's right." said Mina._

"_Well perhaps you would like to travel the distance in my Victoria? I'm sure you would take pleasure in the experience." Captain Nemo seemed grateful. "She's not too far off. I can blow her up if you'd like." _

"_That would be very kind of you, Doctor. Thank you." _

_Samuel Ferguson walked off in the distance. Tom squinted his eyes in puzzlement._

"_Did he say…blow up? Why is he going to blow up his own ship?"_

_Captain Nemo laughed; and to his own surprise, so did I. _

---

_It was about a half hour since Samuel Ferguson left us when he came back, ready for us to board. Captain Nemo seemed, once again, eternally appreciative. He led us to the Victoria, which he said was just over the hill in front of us. _

"_It's such an honor, Samuel…to be off to Kenya by her beauty." _

"_No need, no need my friend…just have her back to me when we part again." He smiled._

_Mina started. "I wonder…how could a ship be on land?" she meant to only speak with Henry, but apparently Ferguson must have heard, because he turned to her and smiled, as we reached the top of the hill. The league, besides me and Nemo of course, all gave extremely amazed expressions…Mina, especially. She had just finished her sentence when her eyes met up with the balloon._

"_My God! What on earth is _that_?"_

"_Hold her, hold her!" Samuel Ferguson shouted across to his creation. "She was crafted for my explorations over Africa. Her name is Victoria." He then said to Mina, personally. _

"_She's incredible! But surely you don't propose we board?"_

"_Why of course, Mrs. Harker. You will unquestionably reach Kenya in a matter of good time, rather than having to go all around that of South Africa." _

_Captain Nemo nodded, and we walked slowly down the hill with a glorious gaze upon us._

_We boarded one by one, onto the balloon's basket. We had to duck, so not to hit the burners. I was excited, to tell you the truth. I've never been on a balloon ride before! Especially across several African countries. The rest of the league was a bit anxious. I mean, they've never been on, yet even seen a hot air balloon before. And I must say the Victoria was quite a balloon for our first ride. _

_Once we were all inside, Samuel Ferguson lifted us off. I have to admit I was a little frightened…anxious on how we'd get back down and all that. But at the same time I was extremely excited…and besides, I had the league with me…what could possibly go wrong?_

…

_I shouldn't have said that…with all the action we get around us, it's only a matter of time when I would have jinxed us…again._

---

_Surprisingly nothing did go wrong with the balloon ride. The view was spectacular, really, during our voyage to Kenya. There was some speaking between the league, but not much went on. I was looking over the sides to the vast valleys of Zaire, I believe, when I remembered the dagger I bought in Egypt, after me pleading that nothing would go wrong with our ride. I had it with me, actually. It was in my holster. I took it out, and held it over my gaze. For everything I knew about Egyptian curses, the only thing I can tell myself was, 'How stupid! To buy a dagger in which the vendor was desperate to get rid of! Ugh! Why me?'_

_Rodney seemed to notice my pathetic, self-doubting expression, because he came to me with his own curious expression, reaching his arm over my waist. Immediately nervous, I shook the arm off, as much as I wanted it to be there…having to keep the whole 'secret' thing, that is. He seemed to understand._

"_What's that?" he asked._

_I hesitated for a moment, looking at the thing. "History…" I said, finally._

_And with one last look, I tossed the thing over the edge of the basket, causing it to fall out of our lives, cursed as it might be. And by symbolizing the dagger as a leave for any more bad events, I must say…I felt pretty good about the future for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen._

---

_We arrived to Kenya about two hours later, and landed in the same town this Allan Quatermain was supposedly buried. It was a small town, I realized. Just some small homes stood, several people and animals roamed around, small markets existed, and a large building was being built. I would guess that was the place where the white men chilled out. We landed nicely on the field; Nemo knew how to work the balloon pretty well, I noticed…considering that he was the one who set us down, made an effort on our navigation, etc._

_But anyway, the weirdest thing happened. We were walking to the grave when Tom noticed it first. He automatically saw something wrong with the grave, because he ran to it with a very…like…defensive or troubled kind of look. When we caught up with him, Mina was the first to ask._

"_What is it?"_

_Tom frantically looked all about the grave. Rodney whispered to me that Tom left his Winchester rifle on Allan's grave before they had left his funeral weeks back. I knitted my eyebrows in frustration. _

"_Somebody take your gun?"_

_I was perplexed. Of course he must have guessed someone would have taken it sooner or later._

_Tom stopped for a second. He looked at Allan's grave, then to all the other ones._

"_It's not the gun I'm worried about…"_

_We didn't seem to catch on._

"_Look at all the other graves…look at the dirt pattern." He ran to another random grave and established it with his arm._

"_Dirt…pattern?" I said._

"_Look at this grave, and then look at Allan's. It doesn't fill to the top. I mean, isn't the way how the dirt is piled…I don't know…seem to be off a bit?"_

_We studied the two graves._

_Henry was the second to notice it. "You're right…it's different…it's almost as if…"_

"_As if someone dug him up, then put back the dirt?" Tom finished…and Henry nodded._

"_But how do we know for sure?" asked Mina._

"_Well…" I sighed. "There's only one way to find out." I looked up to Tom. "May I?"_

_He seemed surprised. "Can you?"_

_I nodded. He nodded back._

_With a rise of my hands, the dirt from inside the grave rose in the air above us, all separated so we could search for the body that wasn't there._

_The league looked back down in the grave, all of us in unison. The body wasn't in there, either._

_Before Mina could finish asking: "What could have happened to hi—", Tom ran off._

_I ran after him once the dirt was back in its rightful place, and Rodney followed me. Tom went to one of the white men near the building-in-progress. I was told his name was Bruce, the former bartender of the previous building, which was apparently blown up…? I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say it had something to do with Allan. _

_Anyway, Tom came to Bruce completely hectic. _

"_You were a friend of Allan Quatermain?" he asked him._

_Bruce looked to him for a few seconds, squinting his eyes from the hot African sun. Either he was trying to recognize who he was, or he didn't hear the question. _

"_Who's askin'?"_

"_Agent Tom Sawyer of the American Secret Service, and member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. We accompanied Allan on the mission before his death?"_

"_Oh that's right, you guys. Nice of you to drop by. Must be visiting Allan's grave, then?"_

"_Right. Although, I came to ask if the grave had any contact since the funeral?"_

"_Contact, my boy?"_

"_Yeah…like…um…" Tom scratched his head, not knowing what to say. I thought I would cut in._

"_Was the body ever dug up?"_

_Tom turned to me with a provocative look. Bruce seemed to be surprised. _

"_Dug up? No, not of my knowledge. I don't see why any body whatsoever would want to dug up one's grave." _

"_Hm. Neither do we…" I said. Bruce looked confused._

_Just then, the four of us were startled by two men in a fight being pushed out the doors of the building…or what parts of the door were there, anyway. It was a big fight, they were having. The one who pushed the other out the door pushed him again. Then the other one pulled out a knife, and to all our surprise, stabbed his rival in the shoulder area…just above the heart, I'd say. The rest of the league had now come over to see what all the commotion was about. The man with the knife was about to pierce his stabbed opponent once again when we all heard a gunshot. And the man with the knife made a face, taking in the pain as he fell on his knees, then on his stomach…dead. We all just looked at him for a second or two, then up to the shooter. It was a man with a stern face; dark brown buzz cut kind of hair, and an elongated moustache, resembling the one kind of like Joseph Stalin. He wore a long, dark green coat and black boots. He stood there, gun still in place from the shot._

…

_It was a Winchester. _

_The league's faces were stunned. I knew they had recognized him._

"_Allan?" Mina exclaimed._

_Allan lowered his rifle, still smoking a bit at the tip, and looked at each one of us, one by one. When he reached me he gave a long look, almost as if to remember if I was in the league with him from before, perhaps._

…

_Yeah I don't think that was it. _

_His gaze went back to Mina, and he smiled._

_Sigh. I guess the league just gained a long lost member, then. _

_Tom was completely stunned. _

"_H-how…"_

_Allan raised an eyebrow._

"_But…but you…you were dead…and a lot older…and…"_

_Allan raised his hand._

"_Africa kept its promise."_

_The league gave understandable expressions…I didn't get it._

"_Okay…but how come you're a young chap, now?"_

"_I guess I was…reborn…"_

_Rodney shrugged, supposing for it to make sense…considering we were extraordinary gentlemen, anything could be possible._

_Young Allan looked to me. I smiled embarrassedly. _

"_And who might you be?"_

"_Alisha…Dover." I slowly nodded, seeming to slightly rock on my heels. _

_Allan looked to Nemo. He noted my importance. "Alisha is a witch. She accompanied us on a previous mission we were assigned to." Nemo walked closer to Allan, reaching his arm to his shoulder. "I should fill you in…much has happened in your absence, my friend."_

_Okay…so the league gained a zombie…a dead man back from his grave._

…

_That's a little creepy. Just saying…_

_Nemo and Allan had their private conversation for about five, ten minutes…I don't know…it seemed long. Nemo then turned to us. Allan looked at me._

"_Where's this flying device of yours?" he asked curiously. I sighed._

_I took out my signaling device, a little button keychain thingy. Very useful. Pressing the button, it made a beep, and the green light flashed on and off, on and off. This indicated that the broom was on its way here._

_I smiled to Allan. "It's coming." My broom, now fixed from the fall in Norway, was in the Nautilus. And I had no idea if the Nautilus was on its way here, or still by Cameroon. It shouldn't matter, though. It can fly pretty fast._

_The league all silently chatted with one another during the time. Allan was looking at me for quite a while…getting…very…creepy. I glanced over to him, but apparently his gaze had left me and had gone to Mina. His expression was soft and gentle. Almost remembering a pleasurable memory._

_OH MY GOD. THAT'S IT._

_This could be my chance! Rodney once mentioned Mina saying to Tom she didn't take the qualities 'young' and 'sweet' in high regard. And I had joked with him saying she must then like mean, old guys._

_Heh…that's pretty funny._

_But anyway, Allan _was_ old…and _seems_ mean enough._

_Hmm…yes…this can work._

_I walked over to Allan, and took him in secret. He seemed curious as to my direct approach._

"_Hi, Allan…I'm gonna ask you something, and I want you to give me an honest, straight answer, if you can."_

"_That depends on what you're asking." His Scottish tone was hard. _

"_It's about Mina." I had to whisper the last part, placing my hand on his shoulder, trying to keep it private between us._

_He seemed surprised. "What about her?"_

"_What is she like? You must know her somewhat, considering of your experience with her. What are your feelings for her is what I mean." _

_He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"_

_I smiled. "That's for me to worry about and you to ignore."_

"_She's a vampire." He said straightly. _

"_Yeah…I know."I could tell I was pressing the question; restless for my answer._

"_Okay, then."_

"_Allan…I need to know. What was your relationship with her?"_

_The 'Great White Hunter' sighed. "We weren't close, if that's what you're asking. I don't take great pleasure in having woman along with me on exploits." His face was stone cold. I knew he didn't like me already. _

"_You don't like me, do you?" I looked at him with the same expression._

"_I never said that. I'm just not used to being around women that can actually be of use during the job."_

_I kept cold, and my eyes must have flickered color, for he made a very startling expression. In response I raised my head a bit, to look him more in the eye. _

"_Well…whatever...I must confess, that's hardly the impression I'd received from her."_

_He raised his eyebrow._

"_To tell you the truth, I think she's rather smitten with you…" _

_Allan widened his eyes, and glanced over to Mina. During that time, I heard a beep come from my signaler. I took it out, and it was flashing red now. This meant the broom was closing in. I stood up and looked around the fields around us. Off to the east I could see it coming toward us, fast as a missile. When it neared us, I pressed the signaler again, the broom slowed and lowered, I swung my leg over, and I got on. It rose up as I looked back down to Quatermain. He looked around to find me, so I whistled to his attention. He was more than surprised to see me floating in mid-air…and on a broomstick._

"_Just saying!" I yelled, and off in the distance I went. _

---

_We all finally got to the Nautilus a while later. Being in my cabin now, I've been pretty bored, I'll tell you that much. I thought what I told Allan, about Mina being smitten with her. Ugh! I shouldn't have said it. This always happens to me! Even in this world, I'm a screw up! Gahh! _

_Well, I found my book on Egyptian history and started to look through it. I skipped all over, but stopped at the section of Cleopatra. Something had caught my eye…_

_It was the dagger._

_There was a passage underneath it, so I read without hesitation. _

…

_I would have guessed this much…you know what it said?_

_The jeweled dagger was a priceless heirloom of Cleopatra herself…stolen from the tomb years ago and never to have seen again. It was told that the stolen dagger was passed down from the thief's family in order to hide it, and there was also a possibility that the family wanted to get rid of it, out of fear of being caught and killed. _

_So it wasn't cursed._

_Just priceless._

…

_Did I ever mention that I hated my life?_

…

_Huh…guess it curses the owner after all._

_I mean…it was priceless__._

_And I threw it over the edge._

_Oh yeah…that's priceless alright._

_I sighed. I'm sick of this already. _

_Rummaging through my case of clothes and supplies, I found my portaleiver…_

_And I urged so bad to press the button…_


	14. The Secret

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

Tom walked down the halls of the Nautilus, thinking about his old friend Allan and his return to the league, his new friend Alisha who had fallen into their laps at a time needed so desperately, and everything else that had come their way since the time of M. He struts down the halls where the cabins were, whistling a familiar tune and hands in his pockets. Tom was about to go to his cabin when he stopped short, noticing a bright glow coming from under the crack of Alisha's door. Prancing over, the American knocked on the door and walked right in. What he saw was a large, purple swirling threshold gleaming in mid-air. Alisha abruptly halted, inches away from entering the portal. Scratching his head, Tom gave an extremely confused, hasty, and uncertain expression.

"Tom!"

"What in the world, Alisha? What is this thing?"

"Uh…." Alisha stuttered her words, aching to continue in the portal.

Tom noticed the small device in Alisha's hand. It was a small, squared metal piece of equipment, with some sort of buttons on it and a long flimsy antennae sticking out on the top.

"What's that?"

"Portaleiver."

Tom gave a questionable face.

"Or, P.P.R., short for Portable Portal Receiver…I haven't come up with an exact name for it…I think P.P.R. is good." Alisha's look was a fusion of embarrassment and satisfaction. Tom looked back to the large swirling object.

"And that?"

"Um…well,"

Rodney Skinner suddenly walked in the door, as to have finally found Tom.

"Hey, Tom wha---woah! What in bloody 'ell is that?" His gaze flickered from the purple void to Alisha.

"Umm…aheh-heh…a portal…"

"A portal to what?" asked Tom.

"To…the year 2008?"

Tom and Rodney gave Alisha blank stares and lifeless expressions for about an entire minute.

"Huh?" he asked again.

"A-heh…I'm, uh…from the future?"

"The future?" asked Rodney. The rogue at last found out about his secret lover, apparently 109 years older into the future. Why had she kept this a secret for all this time?

"Um…it's a long story."

"I think we have time.' Said Rodney, dead flat.

Alisha noticed the hurt in Rodney's voice.

Opening her mouth to speak, and then closing to think, Tom and Rodney pressed harder with their expressions. After a while of coming up with a good explanation, the witch finally spoke.

"I was born in the year 1993…and I grew up in New York…in the United States. The year in my present time is now 2008…so I guess that means I'm not as old as I look."

Tom was about to say something, but Alisha continued.

"Growing up as a witch I never seemed to fit in my era…I had always felt that I should have lived in the past…and then I had a vision."

"Of?" asked Tom.

"Of all of you…in the past."

Tom slightly lifted his head as Rodney kept his lowered, staring at the floor in thought.

"The thing is…or..was…I don't know I'm not good at tenses…sorry…but the thing is, is that none of you existed in the year 1899 when I looked you all up. None of this existed…the Nautilus, your story of M and his war…nothing. _There was nothing_…It's hard to explain."

Tom opened his mouth to speak, but Alisha cut him off again.

"So I thought to myself, what could my vision possibly mean? I thought for a long time what it all meant, and then I discovered _this_." Alisha indicated the room.

"Uh…your cabin?" Rodney commented.

"Um no. I mean bigger than the cabin."

"The Nautilus?" asked Tom, his eyebrow raised in complete and utter confusion.

Alisha sighed. "No. Bigger…_way_ bigger."

Tom shook his head, unable to decipher the witch's point.

"This _world_. This entire alternate universe that exists."

"So…you mean to tell us that we live in an alternate universe from your…uh, time…rather than the past?"

Alisha hesitated. "Uh…yeah…?"

"W-what?" Tom was completely in a meltdown now.

"Okay…I know this is hard to explain…this portal and everything. So I'll give you the basics. I'm from the future. The year 2009. In my era I'm a lot younger. As I witch I gained the ability to come here, become older, and pose as a 26 year old witch, and a part of this league. Got it?"

Obviously annoyed, Alisha entered the portal and disappeared. And with Tom and Rodney obviously in shock and worry, they followed through.

---

The two league members fell out of the portal into a large room, however cluttered with futile objects. The walls were of an off white, and the dark blue rug beneath them was hard and rough. An unmade bed of blue and pink plaid sheets lay out on the right wall, with a green plush ottoman at its end. An oval white table was next to the bed, accompanied by four black plush chairs, and a wooden table and dresser topped lay behind the table, all topped with additional rubbish and electronics. On the other side of the bed was a green side table matching the ottoman, with an alarm clock, water bottle, book light, tub of petroleum jelly, a necklace, keychain, bracelet, and eye mask at its surface. Beside the bookcase was a white cabinet and green shelf stocked with beauty supplies, and an overloaded, golden coat hanger. On the north wall was a white dresser and black mirror with a purple plastic basket underneath, and a keyboard atop a wooden chest. A wicker chair stood beside the keyboard. A Norwegian flag hung over it. Further in back were a widescreen HD TV, and a very old, blue loveseat with a light pink flokati rug as its cover, a wicker ottoman, and four plastic drawers and a light blue locker bin filled with papers and craft supplies. On the loveseat there was a black furry, fat cat, resembling Midnight. A portrait and a sparrow pastel drawing were above the bed, accompanied by a black crafted, abstract mask, a black long curly wig, an apron, and a Halloween witch costume.

Tom and Rodney turned around in surprise to see the portal close up, and Alisha stand in front of them in utter shock.

"What are you doing here?" her voice was at the point of almost screaming.

"I--we-uh…" Tom fumbled in his empty pockets while thinking of an excuse for escaping to the future world.

"So is this what the year 2008 looks like?" Rodney gave a questionable look as he searched around the room. Alisha sighed her entire body.

"This is my room…my younger room."

Tom raised his eyebrow. "How old are you exactly in this world?"

Alisha just simply turned around and walked up the stairs in back of them. Apparently the room was a basement. Tom, then at a delay Rodney followed up behind. Halfway up the stairs Alisha stopped, and shushed them down. In a whisper, the witch huddled with her friends.

"Be quiet! No one can know you're here!"

"Who? Where?" asked Rodney.

"My parents…and the house." Simply stated, Alisha took out the P.P.R., and drew a circle in the air. Inside the circle, the purple swirl appeared. The witch then went to under her bed, and retrieved a small shoe box. Inside she regained two of the same device known as the P.P.R., except it was a bit more advanced. It had a screen, and several extra buttons. She handed one to each of her friends.

"If you ever need me, use these to open the portal." She pointed to a specific button. "Hold this down and draw a circle, then release for the portal to open." She then specified another. "If you ever need to locate me, press this, and the screen will show my exact location. It also works for any of the league members, including you two." Tom perked up.

"You have us _wired_?" he sounded a bit ballistic. "When? And when did you get _Allan_, you just _met_ him!"

"None of your business." Alisha then quickly changed the subject to the P.P.R. again. "If you press this button, that specific one will contact you with any of the league's portable portal receivers. Kind of like a phone, but there's only one button. Each letter is for a different member." On the P.P.R. there was seven buttons with letters—one marked R, one T, one N, one AQ, one M, one H/E, and one AC.

Tom looked up, and Rodney investigated his device. "The rest of the league doesn't have one."

Alisha handed him the box. "Now they do." She placed her hands on their backs. "Now go, before you're caught."

"But—"

"Don't worry, you'll learn about everything in time. Just go."

She pushed them in, and the portal closed as Alisha walked upstairs, changing mysteriously and out of sight.

---

Falling back into Alisha's cabin upon the Nautilus, the spy and the rogue were completely bamboozled, and with their P.P.R.'s in their hands as proof of what they had just experienced.

"Okay, what just happened?" asked Rodney, rubbing his head.

Tom scratched his eyes. "I…have no idea…she's from the damn future, Rodney!" he spoke out as if only speaking to himself.

"Yeah…I would have never expected that!" he said, giving a slight chuckle.

"And I can't believe she had us wired!" said Tom, flipping the gadget around in his hand, finding out how to turn it on. "Heh…I guess you wont be that hard to find anymore, Mr. Skinner."

"Oh, great. My evil plans spoiled."

The two gave light chuckles. "Now, how—" With the press of a random button, the screen went on. Signaling with a red light, the screen pinpointed a location on the Indian Ocean. With another button Tom pressed, the Nautilus' interior appeared on the screen and a specific room…they're room…was singled out. "Whoa…it works."

Tom then pressed the button marked T, and the same location popped up. Hitting AQ, M, H/E, and N, the dining room popped up. Dinner was just about starting. Hitting AC, another entire area was shown, with different information around the screen indicating the unusual era.

"You know, this can come in pretty handy." Tom sat on Alisha's bed, examining every inch of the P.P.R..

Rodney looked up to Tom with curiosity.

"You know, if we lose anyone during a mission."

Rodney nodded, and moved closer towards Tom. "Some technology the future has…"

Tom looked up to Rodney, who had now taken his P.P.R. and was investigating it in his own hands. He sighed.

"We have much to learn."

---

It was dinnertime when Tom and Rodney rushed in the dining room, startling Mina, Henry, Allan and Nemo. They had to catch their breaths before telling the members the truth about Alisha.

"What, what is it?" asked Mina.

Tom was about to say something, but couldn't due to his lack of speech.

"Where were you two?" asked Allan, sitting three seats away from Mina.

"2008." Rodney choked out.

"What?" Nemo said, accompanying his response with a taken aback expression.

"Alisha…she's from the future. 2008." Tom had to hold on to Rodney's back to keep himself up.

"What are you talking about?" Henry said, unbelieving the madness the two of them spoke of.

"Alisha. You know the witch? Yeah. She's from the future…the year 2008. And by accident we just went there. She's there now; doing god knows what and who knows where."

As the league's faces were knocked for six, Rodney's head perked up.

"We do!"

Tom perked as well. "Oh, yeah!" The spy took out his P.P.R., Rodney having taken the box with him and not realizing. He gave Mina, Henry, and Nemo and Allan their very own devices as Tom explained.

"Alisha gave us these to give out. They open the portal to 2008, so we can get her there I guess, and it tells us where she us, plus a way to contact her."

The league took them with curious and confused expressions, examining every button and switch.

"Um…what?" Mina had barely any idea of what was going on. She was more preoccupied with Henry's reaction to this rather than her own. "Alisha is from the future?"

"Yeah." Tom looked to Rodney. "It came to us as a huge surprise too, we went there, you know. Didn't seem too futuristic, from what we got to see…more messy if anything." The two of them were still rushing their words and holding on to each other out of breath.

Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Allan Quatermain and Henry Jekyll all just held their P.P.R.'s in their hands, staring at Tom and Rodney with blank faces.


	15. A Taste of 2008

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

As usual, Alisha was the last to show up to dinner. She entered through the large white doors, wearing a blue dress the league hasn't seen before. All the members were sat in their usual spots, and staring right at the witch as she walked in. She wasn't surprised Tom and Rodney had told the rest of the league her secret. She walked to a seat further off from the rest of the members, and sat down in hesitation for a response…which was first given by Henry.

"Since when were you going to tell us that you were from the future?"

Alisha opened her mouth to speak, and hung it open in thought of a good answer. With a sigh, she said finally, "I don't know." She took her napkin and was about to put in on her lap, then decided not to.

"I…It's just…It's really hard to describe…hard for you to take in, even if you are The League of _Extraordinary_ Gentlemen. There's a lot you still don't know."

Allan made a face. He didn't know the witch much, but he could see the relationship which had obviously grown during his absence.

"Like how you're a different age in the future? What's that all about?" asked Tom.

Alisha's face showed pain. "It's…it's a disguise. The whole thing is pretty complicated."

"I think we'd understand." said Mina coldly.

Alisha sighed, making a face to show how she didn't want the league to know something.

"I can't blend in my time as the way I am. People know me as a different age. So I used my magic…unknown by everyone in my epoch…to make myself older and to go back in time. I never felt that I fit in my era, so I thought I could live a secret, double life as _Alisha the witch of 1899_. In my time…I do live my alternate life, however. I'd like to show you, but I'm afraid you wouldn't fit in and someone would find out our secrets, or you wouldn't accept me for what I am.

"Well of course we would accept you, Alisha." said Henry with a slight smile. Rodney's eyes made a glare in his direction of near suspicion.

"I—I—" Alisha just simply couldn't find the words.

"What exactly do you think we wouldn't accept?"

Alisha looked up to Rodney, slowly taking all this in. Giving a deep breath, the words fell out of the witch's mouth.

"In reality, I'm fifteen years old."

A minute passed over the league's expressions…empty, confused, and slightly sickened, especially for Rodney.

"Oh…my god." he said, staring down the dining room table.

"You're…_what_?" said Mina.

"Well that's young!" Tom said, one of the most positive members.

Nemo and Allan had nothing to say, however their taken aback emotions said it all.

"I was born fifteen…I am fifteen…the way I am now is a disguise…a mask."

"A darn good mask!" Rodney exclaimed, purposely to himself.

Henry thought of the irony; of the dance where he met Alisha in the first place. She had never taken off her mask even since then, apparently. He didn't seem surprised, or disgusted with the fact. He didn't even seem to mind at all. Neither did Nemo or Allan. Mina seemed to slightly like the fact, however Tom…and especially Rodney looked a bit more disturbed.

"Okay then, so you're fifteen…heh…well that's a new one!" Allan exclaimed. "How many more secrets do you have, anyway, Churchill?"

Alisha gave a smirk, happy that they were taking this lightly.

"Can you be fifteen here?"

Alisha looked to Tom. "Sure."

"Huh…can you show us?"

Between a sigh and a hesitation, Alisha got up from her chair, slightly lifted her head, and in one quick second, the twenty seven year old witch morphed to fifteen years old. She wore a different outfit…less mature than normal and darker features. Rather than light blonde hair and lilac-sky blue eyes with glowing skin, Alisha now had a more golden blonde color for hair, grey-blue eyes, and a red-beige skin tone. Her hair was down rather than pinned up, and grown out bangs on the sides of her forehead gave a feathery affect. Her outfit consisted of dark blue skinny jeans, a brown belt, two blue layered shirts, and tall black UGG boots.

"Woah." Tom raised his eyebrows, slightly amused of the non-expected teenager in front of his eyes, supposedly portraying the Alisha he knew.

"Mmm…" Alisha gave a 'Bite me' kind of look to Tom, and he seemed to back off. In a flash, Alisha soon changed back to her normal…well, normal for the league…state.

"Right…well…the point is, when you can't find me, I'm going to be in my time trying to continue my teenage years. I wouldn't mind you to visit; we'd just have to keep it low-key. People would ask questions as to who you are, why you're dressed as you are, why you talk as you do, and why you're…like…twenty years older than me."

Allan gave a chuckle. Alisha gave a slight sigh.

"I'd just like to see more of 2008. All we saw was her basement." Tom gave a slight snicker as well, addressing the league. Alisha leaned over to smack him lightly on the arm. Rodney Skinner continued to remain silent.

"Of course…I would as well like to see as well what the future brings all of us." Nemo said.

"Don't get your hopes up." Alisha smiled. Nemo didn't seem to understand.

"Well, anyway…all this intense talk about our futuristic member is working me up an appetite!" As Tom said this, he reached for something off the seafood buffet in the table's center. As Alisha had a sudden thought however, she caught Tom's hand in action. "Wait!"

"Hey…what's the big idea?" said Tom, half-annoyed, half-amused as he rubbed his arm after retrieving it.

"You all want to see 2008? The why don't we all eat out!"

"You mean like at a restaurant?" asked Tom, getting the idea.

"Yeah! And as we drive there…in the automobile if you don't mind, Nemo…I don't own a car yet at fifteen years old…you can all see what the year 2008 for New York looks like. You'll even be able to taste the food of 2008!" she gave a small giggle.

"That sounds like a great idea!" said Mina, slightly surprised to her positive attitude towards Alisha's idea. The rest of the league seemed quite surprised, too. Even Alisha.

"I'm in." said Rodney, vaguely shrugging his shoulders.

"Me too. I'd love to see the future." Henry suggested.

"Same! You in, Allan…Nemo?" said Tom.

Allan nodded his head from side to side, indicating his scarce approval. Tom looked to Nemo.

"That sounds like a marvelous idea. I'll set off and get the automobile prepared."

As the Captain got up to leave, the league expressed various emotions. Mina seemed slightly stunned and confused, Allan and Henry seemed to act content, Tom seemed excited, and Rodney slightly uneasy. Alisha observed the league and their reactions.

_God knows what's going on that head of his…I mean…he must feel some sort of guilt for having sex with an under aged teenager. I kind of feel sorry for him._

…

_No…no, not really. That's just not my style._

_Henry, on the other hand I can tell is quite pleased…more positive than usual, I mean. I don't know if he's happy with the news, but he doesn't have angst like normal. Which is a good sign…I think. I guess he can think of 'Alisha the teenager' as a Hyde for me, like I have two sides as well…however what he doesn't know…is that she's the Jekyll, not the Hyde._

---

As Captain Nemo retrieved the automobile, the league assembled around the device.

"I must ask, Miss. Churchill. Wouldn't the automobile stand out in your era? What kind of transportation systems do they acquire there?"

Alisha gave a huge grin. "Their called 'cars'. Exactly like the automobile, yet slightly less designed. The same mechanisms are used, though. They can be called automobiles, too."

Nemo seemed very surprised. "_My_ automobile as the main transportation system for your era?"

"Yup! I don't know exactly who they said first invented it, but yours is the first I've ever seen yet. The guy they say invented the first car…Henry Ford; I think…I don't even know if he was born yet…"

"I don't mind credit. I'd just love to think my technology is the basis for your time."

Alisha nodded in agreement. "I'd say so…and give you the credit." She smiled. "OKAY! So, let's get rolling, shall we?" Alisha took out her personal P.P.R., and was about to draw the portal when Tom stopped her.

"Wait! Wouldn't the car end up in your basement?"

"Oh, no. You can adjust where the portal opens. That's very crucial, too. The people in the future don't know about this type of technology yet, or the abilities we all contain. That's why we need to keep private and unexposed. The portal should be open in a place where no one is around."

"Oh...okay. Then where will you open it?"

"My garage."

With that, Alisha drew a circle within mid-air, the portal opened, the league got inside the automobile, and drove through the portal…with it closing behind them.

The doors of Alisha's garage crashed to pieces as the automobile drove straight through the elderly, chipped wood. At the crash, the automobile spun to the side, facing the barely destroyed garage. The league stood there in guilt, Alisha in slight embarrassment.

"Uh…I guess I forgot to open the doors first?"

Tom gave Alisha a look. She smiled guiltily.

Just then, the rest of the garage collapsed along with the pile of wood once known as doors. Alisha winced at the sight.

"A-heh-heh…oops…"

Mina raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Henry looked as if he felt the structure's pain, thinking 'that's got to hurt'.

"Ah, no need." With a wave of her hand, the damage of the garage had been undone…rewound to its normal state.

"How'd you do that?" asked Tom.

"Anything that goes wrong in this world, caused by the other, can always be undone. Lets just leave it at that."

"Uh…okay?"

The league now noticed the small backyard, and deck attached to the single floored, grey house. The league heard a dog's bark, and saw Reeda's face in the glass kitchen door.

"Hey, Alisha…isn't that your dog?" asked Rodney.

"Yeah. The fat, lazy, and unimpressive side of her, anyway."

"You mean she has a double life too?"

"You got it."

"Does everyone?" Rodney raised his eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Do we have other halves here?"

Alisha thought about that for a minute, never having to come across the fact.

"No…at least, I don't think so…I don't know…" the witch seemed to be very deep in thought and perplexed. Her mind pondered very hard to that thought, really. Had the league members been in this world after all?

"Right…well…where to, Miss. 2008?"

Alisha gave Tom a questionable look to her nickname. "Miss. 2008?" He shrugged, and in return Alisha sighed. "I'll drive." She motioned for Nemo to switch places with her. He got out of the car, taking Alisha's place as she sat in the driver's seat.

"Aren't you a little young to be driving?" Rodney smiled.

Alisha shot back a vicious look, and the invisible thief playfully backed off.

---

Alisha drove down the main highway of her town. The league viewed a small town in upstate New York. It had several stores, restaurants, and a large mall all near the highway, and the weather was cold, windy, and slightly misty. Alisha had driven for about twenty minutes down the road when she turned right into a parking lot. A few small stores surrounded a restaurant with red awnings, a wooden build, and a sign that said "Red Lobster".

She parked the car vertical from the place, and looked to Henry, Mina, Tom, Allan and Rodney, who sat in the backseat of the automobile, Nemo being seated in the front next to Alisha.

"I…thought we'd like to enjoy a more _futuristic_ type of nautical dinner." she smiled.

The league all at once turned their heads to the large sign of the lighthouse resembling eatery, indicating one which sold seafood.

---

As the league opened the claw-handled doors, they looked around to the dark wooden walls, sea creature patterned seats and wooden tables, and the crowded tank by the door, occupied by monstrous lobsters. The witch went to the podium where a man was waiting to seat his customers, while the league took in the modern scenery. The man led the league to a booth next to the bar, and they sat down; Allan, Mina, and Nemo on one side, Rodney, Alisha, and Tom on the other. Henry sat at the end of the table with an extra chair the member of staff seating the league added. They were handed menus, and the league looked at them with curious and engrossed hunger.

"So…does the food taste any different than in 1899?" asked Rodney. He didn't look up from his menu.

"Yeah. I would definitely say so." Alisha didn't leave her menu either.

Another waiter attended the league's glasses, filling them to the rim with water. Not long after did a basket of cheese biscuits come to the center of the table. Alisha took one immediately and began to consume it. With shy faces the league gave the biscuits a try. Henry took one first and took a bite, not all so big, yet however not tiny. The league trusted his reaction to their sense of bravery.

He nodded in approval. When Alisha looked up to see the league slightly afraid to try them, she shook her head with a smile.

The league soon ate the biscuits right before their waiter came. He was about twenty five years old, with beige skin, black hair, and a goatee. He wore his proper Red Lobster uniform.

"Hey, my name is Jacob. I'll be your server today. Is this your first time to Red Lobster?"

Everyone but Alisha nodded their heads.

"Is it that obvious?" Rodney said with a slight chuckle.

The waiter laughed, and then passed on for about two minutes informing the league of specials, favorites, and recommendations at Red Lobster. The league, except for Alisha, listened with opportunistic interest. Afterwards the league nodded in confirmation of their suggested orders. The waiter started at Allan.

"For you sir?"

"The…seafood platter, I guess." his Scottish tone was thick and hard, yet soft at the same time unaware if ordering in the future was different than in the past.

"And for drink?"

"Um…you got brandy?"

"Yes sir." The waiter nodded. He wrote down on his pad, and shifted his gaze to Mina.

"I suppose I'll have the twin lobster."

He wrote the order down. "Ok…and what side dish would you like? The choices are rice, salad, vegetables, or mashed potatoes."

"Salad, please."

"Caesar or garden?"

"Um…garden..." It sounded more like a question rather than a statement.

"And for a drink?"

"I'll just have water, thank you."

After scribbling down some more, Nemo was next. He nodded to indicate for him to proceed with his order. He did so, and then came Henry, Tom, Alisha, and Rodney. The waiter saluted his approval, and walked off into the kitchen. The league kept silent before Jacob brought back their drinks. It wasn't long after that when drinks were being refilled, jokes were being passed on, and laughter filled up the entire restaurant. Rodney had his arm around Alisha, and held up his fifth glass of scotch, telling a supposedly amusing story. Alisha seemed uncomfortable with Rodney touching her, and attempted to take his arm off. She simply dug into her food, strangely having a hard time to avoid the fun. Tom and Henry joined in as well, however not as implicated. Nemo, Mina, and Allan all laughed at a joke here and there, but stayed calm during the night's episode.

_And so it would seem the league is settling in on my era. As much as I enjoy the comfortable feel they can take from it, I can only fear the worst as to my secret being let out. And that somehow, the portal will be attained by our enemy, whomever that may be. Yet I smile, willingly to let the night pass away in sanctuary. _


	16. Brightened Day

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_And so, to my annoyance, school once again took action. During the months I've been through the league, only up until now did they know of my existing 'teenage' life. I know it's hard for them to take in so quickly, but I'm sure they'll get over any existing confusions that may linger in their minds. So it's been through the end of July and August, spending my summer vacation. Today is September 5th, 2008. And I'm standing in the middle of the crowded hallway as a fifteen year old girl; surrounded by maniacs I call friends._

_I like the league better. And yet, I have to go through this._

_I explained to the league of my school year still in progress. Some found it amusing, like Tom and Rodney. Henry seemed to think fun of it as well. Things like that make my heart grieve. _

"_I just lost the game!"_

"_Damnit, Jessica!" Harold shouted, in my ear almost. _

_I had the blood-clot type of friends, taking up the entire hallway and killing me with their stupidity. _

_See, this is the thing. I like the league a whole lot better, considering that they're…oh…I don't know…a whole lot older and more mature? But no, I have to continue suffering through my own childhood when I could just transform to my 27 year old self and live the life I've been living for the past 2 months. Even in front of them, I could transform. But I can't risk letting out a secret like that. It's too risky for exposure. And yet I crave to so much…_

"_So anyone up for a movie tonight?" Rose asked, looking to me, Jessica, Harold, Kim, Sam, Ruth, Kate, James, and Laurence. Rose was tall, very pale, and had strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and glasses; wearing her rocker look, as always. Jessica and Kim automatically responded with a yes, considering the three of them are like a best friend triple threat. Rose looked to Sam, and he said he didn't know yet, as he always says. That kid seriously needs to get some free time in his schedule. Either that or he just doesn't want to go…I mean, I wouldn't blame him. Harold, Kate, Ruth, James and Laurence just ignored the question and continued fooling around. Rose looked to me._

"_You want to go, Dover?" _

_Ugh. why do people always call me by my last name? Its a long time annoyance. _

_I sighed. "What movie?"_

"_I don't know…maybe The Dark Knight?"_

"_I—uh...sure. Why not." I was half asleep. Last night I was up with Tom and Rodney, talking about nonsense. At least it was better than the nonsense we're all talking about now._

"_Yeah, so Sam…did you do the homework for Spanish?" asked Kate._

"_Yeah I just did it last night." Sam said, rummaging through his bag._

"_That's what she said!" Rose shouted. Everyone started cracking up…but me._

_I hate the transformation mornings. When I transform from my witch self to my teenage self, my witch mind still lingers around, all gloomy and dark. My bright, cheerful brain won't evolve completely until at least 4th period. And it's the same the other way around._

_The two sides of me are very much like Henry and Ed, so we have a lot in common. _

_Ugh! With all this craziness I'm just dying to show them all who I really am! Who I really can be! I'm sure they would never treat me the same. I would at least like them to meet the witch; they just don't have to know it was me. _

_Well, maybe one day. _

_The first bell just rang, signaling us to go to our homerooms. Mine was upstairs, in the photo room. I grabbed my books, my bag, and set off without hesitation. _

---

It was lunch time in the Nautilus, and the league sat around the table, seeming slightly bored. Tom lay his face on his palm, elbow rested on the table. His other fingers tapped the surface in complete ennui and curiosity.

"Hey I wonder what Alisha's doing right now…" Henry said.

"Probably eating lunch?" responded Tom, lifting his eyes to the doctor.

"Mm." Henry seemed a little embarrassed to have opened his mouth.

"Yeah. She's probably sitting in her cafeteria, eating cafeteria food, with her little friends." Rodney chuckled, forcing down a shot of scotch.

Tom pondered for a second, then lifted his head to meet Rodney's eyes.

"What?" he asked.

Tom just smiled, and Rodney seemed to get the idea. He turned his head to the rest of the league, who simply looked in confusion, hoping Tom's idea wouldn't be any crazier than they expected.

---

_I plopped down at the round table during 6th period, with a tray in my hands. I had bought a can of Peach Snapple, a roll with mustard, Cajun turkey, and mozzarella cheese, and a bag of baked original Lays. I was about to grab my sandwich when I felt a pair of hands cover my hands, and suddenly I was blind. _

"_Guess who!" A cheerful voice spoke. Sounded like a guy. Very familiar, too._

_Ugh. I hate these games. _

"_Uh…well I hope whoever's hands these are, they are clean. I don't want any bacteria going on my face. Only god knows where they have been." Ah, yes. Here comes Alisha the teen, a complete and utter neat freak._

_I grabbed my mystery person's hands, and felt the leather texture. _

_Uh-oh._

_I felt their arms, leather texture. _

"_I don't know. Who is suspiciously covering my eyes…?" I wasn't really a question. More like a lazy attempt for one. _

_The person released their hands, and with an uninterested expression, I turned my head to greet my mystery person. Or should I say persons. Because my excitement just raised to an extremely high level at that moment. My eyes widened, and my hand swiftly made its way to my mouth, trying to cover the screech. _

"_Oh my god!"_

_Standing there, all smiling was the league. But not the league I knew. A new version…a younger, teenage version. They didn't look like sophomores, like me, but like seniors. I was so surprised at how different they looked. The entire league wore their normal clothes, however big they might have been. _

_Tom seemed the same, with his shaggy blonde hair, blonde eyes, and young face. However his jaw was less bony…his face was plump and youthful, having the lines in his face disappear. His five o'clock shadow as also gone. _

_Henry was younger too…his face was completely young, no wrinkles or worry lines. His sideburns were gone, and his hair was lighter. He seemed much happier, and a lot less shaken. _

_Mina's hair was long and light brown. Plus her face was less bony as well; her makeup was soft too. Actually, her entire self was softer. I could see there was something different about her. _

_Allan, standing in the back of the group, seemed childish too. His moustache was gone, and his jaw also looked softer…his hair lighter as well. I still kept looking back to Mina though; she just seemed so much lighter than usual. It surprised me. _

_Now, I couldn't even begin to describe Nemo and Rodney. Nemo's entire beard and moustache was gone, and his turban was gone, showing his natural black curly hair. His face was so young, it was completely stunning. His beautiful Indian skin glistened, and perfectly free of wrinkles and lines. It was, in one word, youthful. _

_My jaw dropped when I saw Rodney. Because to even my surprise, I could actually see him. His skin, hair, eyes, mouth, everything. He had a thin, long pale face with light blue eyes. His hair was loosely curled, and a bright orange color. I was embarrassed for two reasons. _

_One, I stood there, staring at him for who knows how long, and he began to laugh._

_Two, I stared at him with the word 'beautiful' popping into my mind about a thousand times. _

"_You're…oh wow!" I laughed, and they laughed back._

_As I suddenly regained consciousness, I looked back to my lunch table. Rose, Suzie, Sarah, Laurence, Casey, Jason, and Kyle all sat there, looking at either me or the league with curiosity. Especially Sarah, who was looking at Tom with a soft, attentive eye. Tom seemed to notice. _

_I got up and looked over to the rectangular table next to them, and I motioned for the league to sit down. Everyone did so except for my two buds Tom and Roddy. I smiled at them, and they smiled back. Tom eyed me down, motioning his sight to Sarah, who was still looking at her new crush. I glanced over, but she didn't notice my eye contact. I brought Tom's ear to my mouth, and I lightly whispered._

"_That's Sarah. I think she likes you." I slightly giggled. _

_Tom gave a small smirk. He motioned to whisper back into my ear._

"_What's she like?"_

_I looked at the table full of immature, perverted children, and walked the two a bit away from them. _

"_I don't really like any of them. I'd much rather hang with you guys." I shrugged. "Sarah likes rock music, video games, texting, listening to music, all that jazz."_

_Tom winced. "Eh…I can see why you don't like them…" he watched as food was thrown across the table by Jason and Kyle. _

"_Don't even get me started…" _

_Nemo, Allan, Mina and Henry watched them as well, speaking to each other._

"_See that kid in the middle? The one with the green T-shirt, messy hair?" I said, trying my hardest not to point. _

"_Yeah," Tom and Rodney said in unison. _

"_That's Jason." I looked to them. "I hate him with a passion." I said it like it was something simple and easy. I looked back. "I crave to murder him." I raised my eyebrows, and once more turned to my buds. "Can I?" I think there was too much excitement in my voice. _

"_Um, wouldn't that attract us a little too much attention?" Tom said. I sighed with disappointment. _

"_Don't worry," Rodney said, looking at Tom. "Go sit down. We'll take care of him, old school style." He grinned mischievously, pounding his fist. I raised my eyebrow at him, and then shook it off, making my way over to the rest of the league. I sat down next to Mina, with Allan, Henry, and Nemo on the other side. The kids at the other table continued to watch me and my mysterious friends. I watched Rodney and Tom mumble to each other, and then nod their heads. We all watched as they slowly walked up to the table, Rodney in the lead. Amber continued to watch Tom with awe. I noticed him gaze at her, then give a somewhat displeasured look, which I found to be slightly amusing as she found it considerably hurtful. They stopped in front of the round table with their gaze set directly on Jason, hard and cold. Jason looked up to them, and Rodney raised an eyebrow._

"_What?" he said, in his disgustingly messed up voice._

"_Alisha told us you were quite a bother to her…" Rodney said, tilting his head, and speaking in a slightly teasing way. Playing with his meat before pounding it…if that makes any sense. _

"_Um…"_

"_And we don't like it when people mess her up…" Tom interrupted._

"_Cause if anybody does, then we mess _them_ up." As Tom said this, Rodney stared Jason down, and cracked his knuckles…very loudly...I mean, I could hear them crack over the loud noise of the cafeteria. He must be quite good at doing that. I could hear Henry give a chuckle._

"_Listen I didn't do anything…she just hates me." Jason sounded a little frantic._

"_Alright, you guys…" I got up, and broke them out of the trance. Before I sat down with the league, I said "I'd watch your back if I were you, Jason." lifting my head in pride. Rodney and Tom never left their gaze off him until we sat down at the table, trying to scare the kid. Gosh I love these two. _

"_So…um…thanks for coming to visit. But, I just have one question." I turned to Rodney._

"_How come I can see you?" I sounded a little hysterical. _

_He laughed, and raised a finger. "Ask Henry." My head jolted to his direction._

"_My guess…is that by your device…the portaleiver…by making us younger, it brought our bodies to the past rather than just making us _look_ younger. So, by doing that, you erased the dates where we became," he motioned to Rodney, Mina and himself. "Invisible, a vampire, and a monster." _

_I was extravagant. "Oh my god! Will you be able to turn back?" No wonder Mina seemed brighter, I thought. She wasn't a vampire anymore._

"_Yes. We tried going back already, out of surprised panic, I suppose. However I'm eternally grateful for finding a safe way to avoid Edward." He said._

"_I'm glad I'm able to help." My joy really shined through. _

_So, I spent the whole period avoiding my peers, talking with the youthful league, eating a very delicious sandwich, and enjoying the bright side of my day. That is, until, my fantasy died when the bell rang. _

"_Ahh…" I cried in annoyance._

"_Eh, don't worry. See you after school?" Rodney asked._

"_I'll see. I might have a lot of homework, and plus you have to remember I have unaware parents. I still need to find a way how to disappear into 1899 without having them think I was kidnapped."_

"_I'd like to meet these parents of yours, one day." He said._

"_Uh…"_

_Rodney? Meeting the 'rents? Um…I don't think so._

_Suzie signaled to me. "Yo, Dover! You comin'?" I turned to her. "Yeah. Be right there." I looked back at the rogue, bowing his head at me with a muffled grin. "I'll see you later, kay?"_

"_Kay." He said, and I walked off, leaving him and the league behind._


	17. Holiday

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already. A/N: I used the birthdays of the cast members, and a random one for Alisha.

_September passed, and the league really hasn't visited me since the time at lunch. October passed as well, and the more into school I was, the less I was with the league, so I haven't really seen them all that much, except for the weekends, where I was able to sneak a few escapes. To be honest, I actually missed them…I craved to be with them like you couldn't imagine. I've changed, so much ever since school started…ever since I had to be away from them. I'm beginning to get the idea I have separation issues, but I can tell it's much more than that…_

…_much more._

---

_When Halloween came to end the month, I came through the portal just as the league was setting up a small party. Orange and black decorations were everywhere, set up in the halls, dining room, and library. Several types of sweets were set up; not the kind I'm used to in my time. I mean, this is 1899…where in this world would we be able to find a snickers bar? They hadn't been invented yet…_

_I got the memo for the Halloween party a few weeks earlier. I was so excited; it possessed me ever since they told me they were having it. It was the only thing I could think about, and even my friends have commented that I've been a little over-excited and shaken. I was told to be prepared to dress in a mask or something. I still had the outfit from the German masquerade ball, so I wore that. Through the portal I came, but I had only met up with Tom when I reached the dining room. He was helping out with the food being prepared. He wore a suit, and a plain looking mask. I hope I wasn't __too__ dressed up. _

"_Hey!" I said extravagantly from across the room._

"_Oh, hey! Happy Halloween! Good to see you again, finally. You get a good cover?" _

"_I'm tricker-treating with my friends as we speak."_

"_Good."_

_Just then, Mina and Rodney walked in together, dressed tastefully. Rodney's outfit was similar to Tom's. He eyed me carefully and mysteriously when he saw me there. Things between us have been weird, lately. We haven't done anything like that night in Plymouth in a while. I fear he might be catching on the idea that he's not the one I love, yet he still treats me like there's nothing on his mind but our relationship. On the other hand, Mina wore a beautiful red dress and a matching lace mask. Similar to my outfit, but different details and color. Apparently I've given up my jealous grief for Mina, in reference to Henry. If they loved each other…which _is_ what it still seems, I'm not going to stand in their way…as long as it makes _him_ happy...and at a point her too. Plus, the rest of the league respects Mina, and if I mixed tensions with her I could with them as well. It just pains me to see the man I love with someone else. Any woman would. _

_Nemo, Allan, and Henry walked in next; Allan and Henry's outfit similar to Tom and Rodney's, Nemo's was simply his blue uniform with some minor changes, and a mask to match._

"_Well, I guess the masks don't work. We already know who everyone is." I said, trying to lighten the mood, if it wasn't lightened already._

"_We don't have to." said Rodney…but by the way he said it, I don't think he meant the importance of our identity._

"_Right, well lets get this party going, shall we?" With that, Tom played the phonograph, and music started playing. It was a creepy kind of opera, I kind of liked it. Actually, I really liked it._

_To my surprise it was Rodney who asked to dance with Mina first. With that I definitely stuck to my 'Rodney is getting suspicious' theory. But what really surprised me was that Henry asked me to dance first, not seeming to notice the other two. He bowed, I curtseyed, and we grasped each other's hands right into a waltz. In the corner of my eye I saw Allan, Nemo and Tom quietly talking to each other by the table, each eating something. I watched Rodney and Mina dancing, when Rodney and my eyes met at a dreadlock second. His eyes were slightly cold, I could tell. Even though he wore glasses, his stare burned through. _

_I looked back to Henry, and he seemed to be watching me the whole time. When we met eyes, he looked away, embarrassed. Then we met up again, and smiled. It felt so timeless when we spun around the room, like I couldn't see anything else but him._

…_I know. It sounds cheesy. But they aren't wrong when they saw those things, because it's exactly what it feels like. And for the first time I actually believed it._

"_It's like the ball. The first time we actually met." he said. It sounded so weird, the way I was feeling._

"_Heh…yeah." I really didn't know what to say. I was, dare I say, speechless. _

"_Mm." _

_I couldn't keep my eyes off of Rodney. He definitely knew. Or at least he knew something was up. Or he was mad. I don't know. I'm not good at this. So I did the worst possible thing I could do._

"_Henry, can I ask you something? Do you know if Rodney has been having any issues lately against me? 'Cause he's been eyeing me really weird lately." _

_He almost looked like he was hurt. He glanced over in his direction, and then took me to the side._

"_I'm not too sure. The last couple of weeks he's been acting real different lately." _

"_Ever since?"_

"_I can't tell."_

"_Huh…" Rodney hasn't been the same at all. Anyone would think of him as this fun-loving, cheery Scott that can always either brighten the mood or be slightly annoying with all his remarks. But now it's like the mysterious invisible man he really is is shining through. _

…_unless…_

_Henry watched intently as the possibility passed through my mind._

"_Alisha? What is it?" I looked up to him, and I have no idea for how long. At the thought, I gave a smirk and a huff at the same time. I shook my head, trying to hold back the idea. But I couldn't help thinking it would be alright to try._

"_I mean…can you do anything…like, with your powers?" _

"_I—I can try something, but I very much doubt it's the case."_

"_What is?"_

"_I'll let you know in a moment…" _

_I closed my eyes, and recited an incantation in my head. When I opened my eyes nothing happened. And I pray to the gods that nothing backfired like how the sin spell did._

"_Anything?" _

"_Henry…has he been like this a lot? To anyone else?"_

"_Not by much, to the rest of us he's just a bit gloomy…betrayed, almost."_

_I gulped._

"_But whenever any of us mention you, he slightly makes a face or something…I don't know. Did something happen between you two?"_

_I thought about how to answer that. "Yes, actually. Something happened alright." I looked back to Henry, after it seeming like hours staring at Rodney and him staring back. "I'm sorry…I'll just ignore it, I suppose."_

"_It's quite alright."_

_I tried dancing some more with Henry, but after a while I apologized for not being up to the rest of the night." I made my way to the large double white doors of the room, and passed by Rodney and Mina casually talking side by side. Before I left the room, before I finished walking passed them, I tended to say "Happy Halloween" in a somewhat harsh tone as I threw my mask across the room; my eyes flaming in ice. _

---

_That was the last time I saw the league before thanksgiving came. I returned that night, telling my family I wasn't feeling too good, that I wanted to stay home rather than going to the annual family thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house. My parents aren't that gullible, but I'm just really good at getting things my way…that and I'm good at faking a sickness. I swear, in middle school I was such a troublemaker, going to the nurse 24/7 and to guidance as much as possible, etc. But then when high school hit I turned into an angel. As much as I miss the olden days, I shudder at the memory. _

_I met the league once more in the traditional dining room, all seated around the over-filled table. A giant turkey waiting to be carved lay smack in the middle of the table, surrounded by pie, stuffing, vegetables, potatoes, cranberry sauce…really anything imaginable to eat on Thanksgiving. I sat down right next to Henry, for once. Mina sat on his other side and Rodney sat on her other side. Nemo, Allan and Tom sat on the other end, a few chairs apart._

_Once I sat down, arriving on time for once, we all began to eat. I ate little, for I wasn't much of an eater anyway. I'm hardly ever hungry, and when I am, I always get full easily. I felt pretty bad for Nemo making so much food, since I wasn't eating much. Well I know just as much he didn't have all the food just for me. It was for the league and the crew as well._

"_Well, I can tell for one that this is going to be a habit!" Tom exclaimed. I looked up half-interested._

"_What will be, Tom?" Mina asked._

"_Celebrating the holidays together. I like it! Last Halloween was fun, were eating together on Thanksgiving…I can't wait for Christmas!"_

_Christmas! Oh my god! I haven't even thought of it! It's in less than a month, and I have absolutely no idea what to get everyone!_

"_Mm…" Rodney wiped his mouth. "Me neither. It's been such a long time since I've actually celebrated."_

"_Me too." said Henry. He looked down at the table, seeming to have a memory._

"_What other holidays are left?" asked Tom._

"_Valentines Day, Easter…birthdays." I commented._

"_Birthdays! Hey, is anybody's coming up? Mine's not until June…" He looked around the table as I looked down, trying to avoid the question. _

"_I was born in July." said Nemo._

"_August!" Allan raised his hand._

"_Mine's December 13th." said Rodney._

"_November 18th."said Mina._

"_Wow! Really? That was last week! We missed your birthday, Mina?" Tom said._

_Mina looked up, sighing. "That's ok. I'm not really into people celebrating my birthday. I've almost forgotten it…I try to, I mean. Being an immortal, I try not to count the days I continue to live."_

"_Oh…sorry for bringing it up." _

"_It's quite alright, Tom…not your fault." I thought I heard a bump in her voice._

"_Mine's in September." said Henry, moving down the line._

_Tom and the league then looked to me._

"_I—uh…well, mine was last week, too."_

"_Happy late birthday." Said Rodney, slightly startling me._

_I didn't even bother answering him. "I…may not be an immortal, but technically I'm turning 16, and in this world I've already passed that age, so I think of it as me not having any birthdays at all in this world, I guess." _

"_No birthdays? No, you gotta still celebrate your birthdays!" Tom was being a little too energetic for my mood right now._

_I shook my head. "I don't want the attention."_

_Apparently this shocked the league, the whole, 'I don't want attention' thing. Eh, I don't blame them. I can be an attention-getter at times. _

_All I did was shrug, and the night ended as a usual party would…occasional chatter, toasting, blah, blah, blah…_

_And once again, I went back to my normal teenage life, going back into the portal before my desire pulled me back to the Nautilus. I had my mind occupied on other things, however. _

---

Tom, Nemo, Mina, Henry, Alisha, and Rodney set up the library in the Nautilus for Christmas Eve. A tree was set up, streamers draped from the ceiling, and lovely music escaped through the room. Tom, Nemo and Rodney stood on ladders hanging things, while Henry, Mina and Alisha helped out setting the platters and gifts. Tom got down from the ladder and suddenly looked around.

"Hey, has anybody seen Allan?"

"Here! And I could use a little help!" Allan came in with several presents stacked up in his arms. Henry quickly rushed to his side, taking a few from his burden.

Alisha placed a bowl of plum pudding on a table, put the ladle in, and plopped down in an armchair, slightly exhausted.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Rodney exclaimed while jumping down from the ladder. He plot himself next to Alisha on the arm of her chair, resulting in a very surprised look.

"So what first?" asked Mina.

Tom got down from his ladder and picked up a few presents from under the tree. He gave them out to the league.

"I couldn't help waiting." He smiled.

With gratitude, the league opened their presents from Tom as the rest were handed out.

_I seriously can't wait to see what the league gave me for Christmas. The suspense was building so much…ugh! It's killing me on the inside! _

_Patel handed each of us the gifts, reading the tags and correctly recognizing where each present were to be in the hands of. _

_Well at least I got six gifts…I mean, someone could have not given me a gift, and I was grateful nobody came up with that thought. At least they were thoughtful. I opened the first one, coming from Mina. It was a beautiful black lace choker, giving my instincts the feel that it was originally Mina's. I opened the next one, and it was a leather journal, in perfect condition. A small tag was attached to it, saying it was from Tom. A message was written at the bottom:_

You seem to be the type of person who thinks a lot. I thought in a journal you'd be able to write a few stuff down, if you want that is. If not, say the word. I had a feeling I should have gotten you the dress, anyway. You future people are hard to understand.

_I took great joy in that. Considering my state of mind, the gift was the right choice. I looked up to Tom, and I met his eyes. Locking them to mine, he made a sort of embarrassed face. I cut him off by smiling and mouthing the word 'thanks'. He smiled back, relieved. _

_I opened the next box, wrapped a little bit better than the rest. Not better…just more with extra care, I guess. I had a strange feeling that it was from Rodney, and I was right. Inside lay a red box, and on the inside of that, a ring._

_Immediately my hand rushed to my mouth, hoping my fears weren't real. The two gold sides of the ring joined together, sort of overlapping. A few small jewels were in the center at the joining, and it gave me the impression of a promise ring. A card lay on the inside._

Well, what can I tell you? It's not a wedding ring…no, I don't plan on going this fast with our relationship. I just thought a little token of my admiration for you would work, like another type of ring of some sort. And I know you plan on keeping this a secret, so I understand if you don't want to wear it…in public, anyway. Think of it as a symbol of my love for you.

Merry Christmas.

Rodney.

_My jaw dropped. It was so sweet, yet so unreal, almost. I could hear the ringing in my ears. Like the whole thing was too much of a shock I could barely even read the note. So being aware of the other people around me, I quickly skipped to the next gift, which was from Allan. Inside a bunch of paper was a shiny new rifle, stunningly dangerous. He knew well. The tag also made me laugh too._

You seem like the type of gal who would want this.

_I went to Nemo's. It was a bunch of seriously old books, all on the cultural discoveries of his travels. I think it was his journals, or something. I was shocked. Not as shocked as Rodney's gift, I'm sure…but still. This was something completely personal of Nemo's, and he was giving it to me. _

…_TO ME._

_I skimmed the inside…it was loaded with dates, discoveries, deaths, joy, everything Nemo must have been through in his past. I just had no idea why I'm the one who received this. I was grateful of course, but out of everyone, why would he give this to little old me? I looked up to him, my eyebrows furrowed in each other. He bowed his head with a smile. I smiled back, telepathically giving him my thousand thanks and respects. _

_And last but not least, Henry's gift._

_I was so tense opening it. The way I felt about Henry was almost counting on his gift. If he gave me something pathetic, I'm sure my heart would burst and never heal again, and if it was something precious I felt I would cry with passion…_

_But that's just me._

_The box was a fairly good size, and was of a smooth wood material. Slowly, very slowly I opened it. _

_My heart didn't burst, nor did it cry. I felt my insides…grow warm, almost. I wasn't happy or sad, or stunned, or anything else for that matter._

_I was speechless, I was affectionate, but most importantly I was in love._

_A medium sized bronze locket rested on the wood, in all its precious glory and confidence. _

_I must say, I do enjoy bronze. _

_There was an inscription on the outside of the locket, small enough for me to squint my eyes. Curved around the bottom of the circle-shaped locket, it said:_

With love and care, always.

_Okay, my heart has officially lifted to heaven. There was no picture on the inside, but like all the other gifts a small note was left on the inside of the box. _

Alisha,

Edward and I have admired you from the start. You're smart, beautiful, and have been a great addition to the league. I know we all take great pride in calling you a part of us. A true friend like yourself has proven dear to all of us.

This locket was my wife's before her death, and Edward and I both granted the idea on giving it to you.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Alisha.

-Henry

_On the very bottom of that very note, an extra message was written:_

For what it's worth, I'm glad you found me in that alley.

_Oh._

_My._

_God._

_I was going to cry…no…I was crying. I could feel my eyes watering. In awkwardness I put away all my gifts to the side as I decided to watch the league open the rest of their gifts. Mine, at least. I didn't get them all much, but things that were individual and compassion. _

_I watched the smiles as Tom, Allan and Nemo opened their new technological devices/weapons; Mina and her new dress; Henry with his very special note and very lovely shiny new pocket watch; Rodney with his special note as well and potion. I saw him read the…description, too. I remember writing, 'Just In Case' on it. That's all. _

_Oh! I love how mysterious I can be!_

_He looked up to me with a very seriously curious and confused look, narrowed eyes and all._

_But, I ignored him._

_I lay back in the leather chair beneath me, feeling the hard feel coming on. I could feel my eyes burn of fire, yet cold as ice they were. Some people noticed my expression, especially Nemo. A smile stretched across my face. I saw them coming, raging through the swirl of purple light and into the void of my world. I saw the deaths of many, the betrayal of the ones I loved. I could tell the smile, and the gaze I set was burning with rage. As my vision prolonged, Nemo suddenly questioned my state of mind, obviously concerned._

"_Ms. Dover?"_

_My grip on the armchair tightened._

"_Alisha…are you alright?" _

_Tom's voice was faint in the back of my mind._

_Out of my subconscious instinct, I snatched up Allan's rifle, cocked it into play, and gripped the handle tightly. _

"_They're coming." I said._


	18. Teneacherous Pep Rally

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

"Who? Who's coming?"

As my vision came to an end, my gaze returned to answer my dear American friend.

"I saw…"

"Yeah?"

"Men…a lot of men…invading the portal…escaping into the future."

"What? Who?" asked Mina.

"Our new enemy, apparently. They must know of my existence here…how I'm not _supposed_ to be here."

"You may never know that, they may not know of us yet." Nemo suggested.

"No…I can sense it. They are going to attack us soon enough and they must have some knowledge of the portaleiver. We must not let them have it. They can expose us…better yet alter the future!"

"Well what did they look like?" Mina's gaze was beginning to turn a bit crimson, but they were nothing to my white ice eyes.

"I saw them killing my friends." I trailed off to the image of the people I care about die to those scandals.

"Alisha, focus!" I turned to Allan.

"Who were they?"

I breathed in deeply, and then closed my eyes.

"I can't tell. It's a group of men, seeming to be English or something."

Opening my eyes, I felt uncomfortable with the entire league staring at my expression. I scrunched my face in distress.

"Get all the portaleivers. And don't let anything happen to them."

The league rushed off immediately, except for Rodney. He touched my shoulder showing comfort, and then rushed off with the rest of them.

As soon as the league left Alisha alone in the library, a group of men all dressed in proper English attire resembling Dorian Grey appeared out of thin air, surrounding the witch. Before she could get up and scream for help, one of the men from behind caught Alisha in his arms and tightly covered her mouth. She struggled to break free from the man's grasp, but he was too strong.

"Shh…" he said, stroking the witch's cheek. "We won't hurt you…"

His voice was soft and eerie, distinguished from the rest of the men who stood like statues under their leader's order. The man chuckled. "You're not going to scream…are you?"

Alisha's eyes narrowed, and the man slowly let go of her mouth.

"Who are you?" It was a statement rather than a question; the witch's voice was cold, and demanding.

"We are The Teneacherous. My name is Bane Wilde. We…appear before you with only one request."

"And what is that?" Alisha never relaxed for one minute. She knew she couldn't use her powers to kill them just yet…she needed to know their plan, first. So she lingered on the edge, just waiting to pounce.

"We want you to join us…in overthrowing the British Empire. I for one believe that a new era deserves a fresh source of power…don't you?" Bane's breath tickled Alisha's cheek he was so close, watching her every move.

Alisha gave a wicked chuckle. "Join you? You have _got_ to be kidding."

Bane slightly laughed in response. "Well you're speaking for the entire league now aren't you? I'll have to ask them individually I suppose…but first, I have a duty to eliminate my little mutineer."

Just before Bane could take out his dagger and slit her throat, Alisha stopped his endeavor.

"If you kill me they'll never join you."

He stopped short to think the possibility over. Shrugging, Bane proceeded to bring the knife to Alisha's throat.

"I'll take my chances."

Just then, The Teneacherous and Alisha heard Tom yell across the halls, nearing the library. "Hey, Alisha! I've got my portaleiver!"

When the young agent stepped in the room and saw the men surrounding Alisha's near murder, he immediately took out his gun and aimed straight at Bane's head. When the bullet pierced into his head, he merely shook it off and smiled. Just then Mina, Henry, Nemo, Allan, and Rodney jolted through the archway in shock of the noise the gun had made. They could only get but a glimpse of their enemy before the disappeared out of thin air.

Alisha looked behind and around her, shimmering off the feel of Bane's skin wrapped around her. She looked to the league, her face hanging. They, in response, impatiently waited for an answer.

Alisha tightened her lips and vaguely shrugged while pulling her collar. "I could have taken 'em."

Tom subconsciously put down his portaleiver, and rushed to the witch's side.

"Are you hurt? Were those the…"

"The Teneacherous. Their plan is to overthrow the British Empire, suggesting our help."

"And you denied?" Nemo pointed out.

"Obviously."

"Well do they know of the portal?"

Alisha's eyes widened as she viewed one of The Teneacherous appear and steal Tom's portaleiver, lying on the table. The league followed her gaze, not being able to do anything before the man disappeared with the device.

"They do now."

---

The same man who stole Tom's portaleiver appeared before the rest of the Teneacherous, greeting Bane.

"Did you get the object the American spoke of?"

Nodding, the man handed Bane the portaleiver. After Bane took hold of it, the man bowed and retrieved behind to his usual spot of the Teneacherous, forming its complete circle.

"What does it do, my liege?" one of the men asked.

Bane played with the device in his hand, trying each of the buttons. When he was holding down one of the buttons, he spun his arm in the air as a gesture to his men, when the portal appeared.

Bane slowly turned to the mysterious swirl of purple and grey light, gradually forming a smile.

He let go of the button, and nod his head to the side, signaling to one of his men to inspect the portal. The man carefully approached the portal, and slowly stuck his hand through as a first attempt. With an astonished expression, the member retrieved his hand out slowly, turned to Bane, and shared a cruel and immoral smirk.

---

"Alright. Our best bet is for me and a few others to escape into the future and wait for the attack. The rest of you then would wait here in 1899 and see if anything else happens. We can report to each other through the portaleivers. Tom, since they took yours, you can just use one of ours until I make you a new one. I dare not, however, make any more while The Teneacherous are still around, waiting to take grasp of any more there are." Alisha walked to the long wooden table in MI5, slamming her hand down. Campion followed her trail.

"Sounds like a good plan. But first we need to prepare ourselves for any attack at all. What are these guys? I shot a bullet right through one man's head! How do we kill 'em?" Tom squealed uneasy in his spot.

"We can't know for sure just yet, but only gather the facts."

"And the facts are?" Mina opened up.

"They can't be killed by a bullet wound, they can appear and disappear out of thin air, and they are strongest when together."

Nemo straightened his gaze to Alisha. "How do we know that?"

"I can tell. Whenever one of the men did as much as a flinch, Bane tightened his grasp on me, all alert and everything."

Nemo bowed his head.

"You all be careful. Do so as planned, and keep up you're guard. We don't completely know what these men are."

The league all nod in agreement. Alisha opened the portal, and went through. Tom, Henry, and Nemo followed. Departed by Campion, Mina, Rodney, and Allan retrieved back to the Nautilus.

---

_The first thing I felt was the cold hit my body when we approached the winter air of 2008. Tom, Henry, Nemo and I arrived outside my house in the backyard. Ugh. Why didn't we appear on the inside?_

'_Nyea!" I squealed as my feet fell in the snow. I basically marched into the house, still in my elder form. Tom had to stop me before I gave away our secret. Henry and Nemo looked down as their feet crunched the knee-high snow in unison. _

"_Uh…Alisha, aren't you forgetting something?" _

_I turned around, staring at him for a few seconds to remember anything I missed. Realizing, I looked down and yelled. _

"_OH!" Jumping out of the snow while transforming, I landed on the cement, and into my teenage self. _

"_Right…" I cleared my throat. "Well…today is the last day of vacation for the school. Tomorrow I have school to attend, and it's a likely time for The Teneacherous to attack. We can hold our guard until then."_

_I walked inside the house, unattended by anyone, and the league followed behind to help plan the assault._

---

_The Teneacherous didn't attack for about a week. When they did, it was a complete and utter surprise, however ready the league and I were. We checked back and forth between worlds, but Tom, Henry, and Nemo still hung around in my era, watching over the school and myself. Still in disguise, I listened to my classmates as they discussed the 'three random people watching over the school these days' intently. Just random babble and jabber, though...nothing doubtful or guarded. The three of them mostly circled the school, watching for anything suspicious. My guess is that The Teneacherous wanted to wait; to make us get our guard down and seem more relaxed…so it would be more of a surprise when they did attack. _

"_So you ready for the pep rally?" my face jolted as Rose woke up my conscious. _

"_Yup. Can't wait!" I actually did like the pep rallies; however my skills could be a lot peppier to the school than the cheerleaders and dance team. _

_It was nearing the end of 8th period, and the pep rally was 9th. As soon as the bell rang, Rose and I basically ran with excitement to the gym; the sound of drums and trombones filling the air, getting louder and louder as we got closer. I eyed Tom in the corner of the hallway leading up to the gym, giving me a nod as we passed. I thought I saw Henry a bit further down the hall too. _

_Inside the gym were mats, black and gold streamers, balloons, girls in uniforms practicing flips and jumps, sports players wrangling with each other on one side of the room and several band members blowing their life into gold and bronze instruments. The sound was exhilarating, pumping me up to the extreme. We sat all the way in front of the bleachers, at the far end of the gym. Most of my friends were seated there, others were scattered a bit ways up and to the side. I sat down, watching the doors as I saw Nemo's head pop inside. He couldn't find me in the crowd, which slightly frightened the both of us. _

_This might have been what The Teneacherous have been waiting for. _

_Waving frantically, the captain scanned the room and finally found me after several minutes. I saw him nod, then signal to Tom and Henry. A few seconds later their heads appeared too._

_The pep rally began with an introduction from the principal, then a dance by the cheerleaders. Intro's and awards for the sports teams followed, with intermission from the performances by more cheerleaders and the dance team. That was basically the entire period. When it was nearly ending, my sensed tensed up as I saw a commotion going on by the doors of the gym. Tom ran inside, hurrying towards me. I saw at the doors Nemo and Henry be pushed aside and captured by The Teneacherous, forcing their way inside the gym. Some kids noticed, and teachers asked madly who they were and what their purpose was. I saw the principal even whisper something to a teacher, eying the situation. _

_I jumped off the bleachers just as I made eye contact with Bane. He automatically knew who I was, smiling with amusement. I could almost hear him say, "Oh, how cute. The witch has a double life as a teenager!' _

_Bane paced forward in my direction, and the rest of the Teneacherous molested anyone who got in their way. The kids and teachers got a little frantic._

"_What do we do? They'll blow our cover!" Tom sounded just as hysterical as everyone else. The Teneacherous blocked the doors so no one could escape. Bane was halfway across the room by this time now._

_With a sudden struck of idea, I whispered in Tom's ear over the muted noise of the band. He gave me a confused look, but I just hurried him off to do his task. _

_Tom rushed over to one of the worried students, and pointed out to her the men, plus Bane and I now in the center of the gym floor…surrounded and watched by all of my high school._

"_There's gonna be an extra performance." Tom slightly yelled in a hurried and anxious manner._

_The girl in charge of the pep rally's organization gave a confused look and checked her clipboard._

"_But—I don't see anything about a…"_

"_Just play something. It's a last minute thing."_

_With a shrug, she motioned for another classmate of mine to pick a random song off the pep-rally-playlist. Blasting through the gym speakers, and awakening everyone including Bane and his comrades, started 'Circus' by Britney Spears. _

_Bane and I centered the room even more, swaying from side to side. As soon as I was ready, I sprung myself at him. _

_We fought with the rush of the music in our ears. I kicked high in the air and landed with caution right in front of Bane. He dart back, kicking and punching at anything he could at me. I retracted his actions. When he hit, I dodged. When he dodged, I hit. The crowd was beginning to buy it._

_Tom chuckled with his arms crossed, and the Teneacherous at the doors squinted their eyes all around to the students, obviously confused. We continued…it almost looking as if the two of us were half-dancing, half-fighting. It was like watching a kung-fu movie in action. _

_I jumped up as high as I could, spinning my leg around. Bane bent upwards, just missing my foot. I did a backwards handspring; Bane charging at me. I jumped, yet again, just behind him. Just as he turned around, I smacked his face with my kick. He fell to the ground, my foot on top of him. _

"_WOO! GO Alisha!" I saw my friend Sam yell from the bleachers to my performance._

_Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed him. Bane eyed him as well, smiling meticulously._

_As soon as I realized what his motive was, my eyes widened and Tom tensed up a bit. Suddenly, Bane gave the expression of being dead, and a white glow came out of him, seeming to be some sort of spirit. It glided towards Sam. I did as much as I could to stop it, Tom calling in the rest of the league. Henry and Nemo ran in, free from the Teneacherous, and eyeing Bane's body on the floor, then to the ghost entering my friend. Making a face, Sam, or should I say Bane, eyed me with a smile. _

"_Oh….god." Ugh. This was going to be a tough one._

_Some friends next to Sam like Jessica and Kim gave a curious face as Bane got up, coming towards me._

"_No wonder we can't kill them, they're already _dead_!" Tom widened his eyes as Bane stopped in front of me. _

"_You wouldn't kill your friend…would you?" he gave his evil grin, and I raised my eyebrow. His finger rose to stroke my cheek and I felt my dagger at my hip, hidden under my clothes._

_Thinning my eyes and lips, I shook my head back and forth in ponder. _

"_Yeah. I think I would." With that, I stabbed Sam's body underneath the stomach, and he made a face as Bane's spirit rose again. _

"_Henry!" I threw him a healing potion of mine, and had him attend my friend's body as he fell to the gym floor. _

_I was going after Bane. _

_I had only one option to do it, I thought. And that was to do a spell. _

_I closed my eyes, frustrated and hurried, needing to kill Bane before he escaped into another body._

"_Uh…ghost of horror, leader of destruction, eliminate this spirit of utter seduction. Let no man be possessed by the very Bane Wilde, as I use this spell to make him killed." _

_Opening one eye, I saw Bane's spirit explode into all different colors and sparks._

_I jumped in triumph as the rest of Bane's followers disappeared in threat and Tom high-fived me. I looked to Henry attending Sam, and he motioned to me, signaling that he would be okay. Nemo, Mina, Rodney, and Allan appeared through the doors, just after the action had died down._

_But, as I regained conscious, I looked around to the crowd of people staring at the seven of us in utter amazement. _


	19. Over And Done With

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_The best I could do was make up a spell to have everyone forget what happened that night of the pep rally. Unfortunately nobody remembered my awesome fight with Bane._

_The rest of the Teneacherous were out there, just waiting to attack. _

_I was in ninth period, a few days after the last battle, listening to everyone continue about their strange non-remembrance on the day of the pep rally. Tom knocked on the door and poked his head in, ignoring the teacher who frantically got annoyed with his intrusion. _

"_Hey, Alisha. Just to let you know, the meeting's today."_

"_What meeting? With Campion?"_

"_No. Nobody told you about the meeting?"_

"_Apparently not."_

_Tom sighed and looked to my global teacher. _

"_Can I borrow her for a minute? It's pretty important."_

_The teacher hesitated. He made some sort of scrunched up face, almost trying to make himself look funny. _

"_Hurry it up, Dover."_

_Thank god I do well in this class._

_I got up and met Tom outside the classroom. He looked around before he spoke to me._

"_We decided…since the Teneacherous are still out there…that we should inform your school about the dangers at stake, and the precautions they should take if anything happens."_

_I swear my mouth hung open the entire time. How could they! Expose us? It's preposterous!_

"_We expect the Teneacherous to attack at random…and we can't risk anybody getting injured on our behalf of needing to keep our secret. If anything goes wrong, you can just say a spell, right?"_

"_I guess…but still, it's too risky." _

"_Yeah. It is."_

_I involuntarily made some kind of annoyed noise._

"_So whats with this meeting?"_

"_The school board—all the teachers, janitors, lunch ladies, councilors, the principal…everyone for the school is attending. We're going to introduce ourselves and the conflict that arises for us, and possibly the students." _

"_The Teneacherous aren't going to attack here…"_

"_You don't know that!" Tom was being serious now._

"_Without Bane, they're nothing! They're not strong enough to fight us!"_

"_Expect the unexpected, Alisha! They could have found a new leader, or they could even be strong enough. We don't know for sure about anything anymore!"_

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

_Oh. I got him there. He was hiding something. I could tell. _

"_Never mind. Look… the meeting is right after school in the auditorium. Be there, alright?" _

_I sighed. "Fine."_

_As I walked back into the classroom, everyone was staring at me. I guess we were louder than hoped for. I seriously doubt they caught any valuable information, however. _

"_Sorry…"_

_The teacher's eyes narrowed as he followed me back my seat. _

_When the bell rang and before the class could escape out of the room, I had to gulp to what my teacher had announced._

"_There will be no extra help today. There's a mandatory staff meeting I have to attend."_

---

_I got electric nerves as I walked past the bustling halls of loud noise and obnoxious attitudes, and in through the side doors of the auditorium, seeing the league make small conversation with each other on stage, and a few of the teachers and staff filing in the front and second rows of seats. I saw my global and math teachers come in, spotting me with a smile. _

"_Hey…what's going on?"_

_I came up to Mina who was talking with Rodney, Nemo and Henry. Allan and Tom were off to the side, conversing on their own._

"_Tom told you, about our need to inform the dangers possible."_

"_Yeah…he did. But still, I have my precautions."_

_Mina made a slight face; not mean but more sarcastic. Rodney turned to me._

"_We have to do what we have to do. The Teneacherous aren't fully dead yet. And obviously from their last public attack, they've proved to us that they're not afraid to assail at random."_

_More people were coming in._

"_Hi, everyone. Come on in, sit up close." Tom spoke from a microphone; where he got it I don't know._

_The principal introduced herself, and so followed the assistant principal. Tom and Allan shook hands as the rest of us readied ourselves for the big exposure. _

_When the auditorium seemed filled with almost every staff member I've ever met, Tom called to everyone's attention._

"_Good evening, everyone. We call upon the entire staff of the High School for one very important reason…the safety of all the students." Tom looked at me._

"_Some of you may recognize our member here, Alisha Dover. She herself is a student…but she is much more than that." He handed me the microphone, apparently suggesting that I'm the one to break the ice._

"_Uh…hi, everyone…hi. Um, well first off, we are The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." I waved my arm to everyone. "L.X.G. for short. The members are Tom, Allan, Henry, Nemo, Mina, Rodney and myself. Um…well, our job is kind of like the F.B.I. or the C.I.A. or something like that. Government officials, I mean. Well actually, we're part of Military Intelligence Section 5, if anyone is familiar with that."_

"_Let's hurry it up…" Tom whispered to me._

"_Workin' on it…"_

_I looked back to the staff. All I was getting was confused expressions and non-believers._

"_Right…well I can see not many people here are taking this seriously…so, I believe…I will have to _make_ you believe us." I handed Tom the microphone._

_Centering stage, I raised my arms and transformed into 27-year old Wiccan Alisha. The entire staff gasped and shouted and whispered and yelped and made strange and more annoying noises, expressions and reactions. I had to raise my voice to calm them down._

"_We all have special abilities. Do I need to prove myself further?" _

_The audience was silent…I couldn't tell if that was a yes or a no. A young, blonde-haired math teacher yelled, "What is everyone else's power?"_

_I looked around to everyone. "Well, Allan, Tom, and Nemo here are normal humans with awesome fighting skills and stuff like that." I was sounding a bit kiddish._

"_And for the short story, I'm a witch, Henry's a monster, Mina's a vampire, and Rodney's invisible."_

"_Invisible? But we can see him." The man called. I slowly turned my head to Rodney. He sighed._

"_I'm goin', I'm goin'…"_

_As he swiftly undressed, I heard the usual 'oo's' and 'ahh's'. He took off his gloves, trench coat, glasses, pulled up his sleeves…and it seemed to be enough to convince the staff._

"_Right. Well. Our contradiction here is to inform you of our latest mission. Does anyone here remember what happened at the pep rally a few days ago?"_

_Some shook their heads, some whispered with each other._

"_We were attacked by our enemy…here…at the school. Because we were exposed, I had cast a spell to make everyone forget what happened those last few hours. A student got hurt that day…almost killed. Luckily for all of us he is healed and doesn't remember a thing…but it was risky enough to have a student of the school in danger. We ask of your permission to help protect the school until our enemy is eliminated, and to help any of us out in any way possible…and that includes keeping our secret."_

_I watched the faces as Rodney decided to put his clothes back on._

"_So you mean to tell us that because you pose as a student here for your…double life…" spitting at the word. "…your enemy is attacking you at our school? And hurting anyone that gets in their way? Talk about risky! Just stay away from the school, and they obviously wouldn't attack us!" Some teacher spoke up; messing with the plan we tried to propose. Lots of people were nodding their heads in agreement. I gave a chuckle._

"_Don't you think I know that? First off, I'm still a student here, and I refuse to be kicked out." _

_The teacher raised his arms in frustration. _

"_Second, it would be hard to explain for my absence, especially to my own guardians. Third, our enemy knows I attend here. They could take prisoners to reel us in to their plan…there are many possibilities."_

"_Who is your enemy?" An English teacher asked._

"_I'd rather not tell you, but since you asked…it's a group of men…we think nine…and they have abilities, some of which we're not sure of."_

"_Abilities like your own?"_

"_Precisely."_

"_Oh! What is this? A supernatural lockdown?" _

_I eyed that same man down. _

"_Anything more from you and there will be."_

_He gulped silent._

"_How long have you been…undercover…like this, Alisha?" My English teacher seemed very interested in my double-life._

"_Not long…but we need to focus. Our plan is to watch over the school until the elimination, as in walking around the halls, watching over the students and any suspicious activity…that such. We aim to go no longer than a week on destroying them. During the time we ask of your assistance, order, and service within the time limit...and from the students as well. If anything happens where any of us need to give order, be sure all the students cooperate."_

_I looked around to each and every one of the staff members…each teacher, janitor, counselor, cafeteria staff member, and supervisors, principal and vice principle…everyone…_

…_and knew we had our followers. _

---

The next morning, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen entered the doors of the high school side by side; all's pace parallel to the next, wearing all black, in their older state, and turning everyone in their way to let them pass. They went in the order of Nemo, Mina, Rodney, Alisha, Tom, Henry, and Allan. Through the main lobby and taking a left down the halls they went, allowing no one to stop them. At the end of the hallway they departed…Nemo and Mina turning left, and Henry and Allan turning right. Rodney, Alisha and Tom continued straight…straight on to their mission.

The league planned everything out the day before…they knew exactly what to do. As Rodney, Alisha, and Tom strut down the halls, another hall intersected in the distance, and Rodney and Tom departed separate ways. Alisha continued straight until she reached the very end of the halls, and waited there as planned, until her portaleiver beeped six different sounds, one for each league member. Then, she turned back outside the doors against her back, changed, and returned inside on her guard.

It was third period, Alisha sitting in her science class. Tom walked from the right side of the hallway, Rodney at the right. When they passed each other, they simply nodded. Alisha saw the two from outside the door, sitting in the very back of the room.

During fifth period, Alisha, in her elder form, escaped to the teacher's lounge to catch up with any news. As soon as she walked in, she saw in utter amazement all the teachers hugged against the wall, all except for one who had a knife to her neck by a member of the Teneacherous.

"G-code, now!" Alisha shouts in her portaleiver.

With one quick movement, Alisha grasped a gun from her holster and shot at the window.

"HA! You missed." The member laughed meticulously.

"No I didn't."

From the partially opened window, Tom stuck up from behind the man and stabbed him in the back. As his spirit attempted a possession, Alisha cast a proper spell, and the spirit was no more. The woman was let go by the dead corpse, and throttled out of horror.

Henry walked in through the door and attended to the female teacher.

"Thank you all…how can I ever repay you?" she tried to choke out the words as Henry lay her down in his arms.

"Shh…try not to speak." Henry said with care.

"Good job, Tom. Two down, eight to go."

Tom nod his head.

"Eight?" a bald male teacher who had hugged the wall looked all too fearful.

"Yes…and we can handle it."

Just then, the ball rang. The teacher who had fallen tried to get up, but stumbled back into Henry's arms.

"I have a class…"

"That's okay, we can get you a substitute." One of the teachers said. He walked out soon enough to get someone for the woman's class.

When he got back, he looked a bit worried.

"We have no subs available."

The woman teacher crinkled her eyebrows anxiously.

"That's alright…Alisha can sub." Tom said.

"Heh?" The league member looked to Tom as if he had seven heads.

"Sure. Just supervise the class and tell them to do something related to what they're learning."

"They're currently learning about the French Revolution." The teacher said.

"Yeah…you can even give them a lecture about it."

"But why me?"

"Well…you know most about teachers in this era and stuff. I don't think any of us could fit in as a teacher, except for maybe Henry…but he's tending the gal right now."

Sighing, Alisha walked out the door with a humph.

_Why do I have to do this? Why am I the one to teach the little brats?_

_As I enclosed on the classroom, I felt my pace increase and get more intense. _

_Seriously…I cannot handle these kids right now. I have a job to attend to. _

_I walked into the classroom, pounding the door against the wall. All the kids snapped their heads in my direction._

_Walking over to the chalkboard, I began to write my name._

Ms. Do…

_Hm. I think it would be best if I wrote something else down, to be a little less conspicuous. _

Ms. Kester

_There we go. Take after that guard from the Martian site. _

_I turned to the kids, noticing one boy in the back staring at me…a little creepy…and talking with his friends with a smile. I thought I should keep my eye on him, just in case. _

"_Alright class. You all learning about the French Revolution?"_

_A few nod their heads._

"_Alright…well…" _

_I snatched a textbook off someone's desk._

"_Read pages 456 through 472 and do the questions."_

_As the kids got out their books, I went behind the desk and plopped myself down. I noticed the teacher's attendance sheet on the desk. Taking it, I called for the attendance and jotted the data down. _

_I watched the kid in the back, having the gut feeling that he was a possessed kid of the Teneacherous. Either that or he was just a really creepy kid. I've seen him before in the school…I think he's in my grade, as a matter of fact. He looked up to meet my eyes and instead of looking away, I stared him down. _

_After a while he waved, trying to be funny, but I just squinted my eyes in disbelief._

_I couldn't wait to see if this kid was evil or not, so I thought magic could assist me._

"_Young boy who sits in back,_

_Let me foresee your next attack._

_If you are part of my foe,_

_Show me what I want to know." I whispered._

_With a strange, taken over face, the young boy got up, looked to me, and charged with an accelerating force. _

_When he got close enough, he took out a knife from inside his pocket, and jumped at my being._

_Before he could stab me, I stabbed him first with one swift motion behind the desk. I lay the body down, away from the view of the class, said the spell so the spirit could move on, and tended the kid with a potion. _

_I commanded the class to stay in their seats as I made my way to the "nurse's office" with the boy in my arms._

---

_Other than that day the Teneacherous never really attacked. They must have been frightened away, or too weak to continue their opposition. _

_And that's good, too. Because the New Year has been going good, however we haven't really been able to celebrate it because of the Teneacherous. But now that they're off our backs, we all can enjoy the fact of yet a little peace before everything starts to heat up this year. Like Valentines Day, for instance. That's coming up real soon and I'm just a little too scared out of my mind to guess what's going to happen then, considering that it's a week away. _


	20. My Valentine

Taken In Again

**Disclaimer: It's a fanfiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already. **

_**It was a Friday…Friday, February 13th to be exact. The day before Valentines Day. **_

_**I was going to the mall with my mom to go shopping. It was a cold morning…10:00 a.m., considering the fact that my mom likes to get up early on her shopping days…and the two of us were turning the corner of the stone building to the entrance when I spotted a familiar figure.**_

_**There, back against the wall of the grey stone, was Rodney Skinner having a morning smoke. His right leg bent, pushing his foot against the stone as clouds of nicotine-filled smoke infiltrated the air. He looked up as we approached him, and I stopped as well… with a curious look on both our faces...my mom and I, that is.**_

"_**Rodney?"**_

"_**Uh…hi."**_

"_**What are you doing here?"**_

"_**Alisha…who's this?" my mom's guarded voice crumbled through our ears as my secret came to a tight close.**_

"_**This…is Rodney. He's a friend of mine from school."**_

_**Although Rodney didn't look any near age to be a student, he didn't look normal either. This threw her off a bit.**_

"_**Nice to meet you." Rodney held out his gloved hand to my mother, who warily grasped in return. I knew what she was thinking. Rodney was an old creeper who smoked and I shouldn't hang out with him.**_

_**Oh…but if you knew the rest…I thought.**_

"_**Oh, well…Tom's on the inside. He's lookin' for a Valentines Day gift for Mina. He brought me along to help…but…"**_

"_**But here you are, outside takin' a smoke." I cut him off. He shrugged.**_

"_**I'm not that big of a help anyway."**_

"_**Hmm. Do you know if he's had any luck?"**_

"_**Doubt it. Last time I checked he was looking at some kiosk selling miniature fountains."**_

_**I gave him a blank stare.**_

"_**Oh you have got to be kidding me. Fountains? That boy is never going to make a good impression! He might as well buy her a moldy sandwich!" **_

_**Rodney looked at me strangely like he didn't get the joke. "Heh?"**_

"_**Never mind." I suddenly realized that my mother was still standing next to me.**_

"_**You don't mind…do you?"**_

_**She sighed. "Go ahead…keep your cell phone on so I can call you."**_

"_**Right." I grabbed Rodney by the hand, and pulled him in a rush, causing him to drop his cigarette and grab his hat from blowing off.**_

"_**Where is he?" I said when we swiftly got inside.**_

"_**How should I know?" Rodney looked at me obviously.**_

"_**Oh…right." We both thought of the portaleiver. I took it out, and the screen showed a small red flashing light in the blueprints of the mall.**_

"_**It says he's in Sears." That wasn't too far away.**_

"_**Then lets go." He said.**_

_**When we caught him looking at small cheap watches in boxes, he seemed surprised to see me there with Rodney.**_

"_**Catch some extra help?" he said.**_

"_**She came to me."**_

_**Tom shrugged.**_

_**I walked up to Tom and took the box from his hands, a Hannah Montana watch for about a five year old. I couldn't get the look off my face.**_

"_**You have **_**got**_** to be kidding me." My eyes shifted to his embarrassed gaze.**_

"_**I wasn't gonna get this for her. It's just that I can't seem to figure out what to get, so I've just seem to give up and pick up anything…thinking nothing of it…" He looked so worthless I felt so bad.**_

"_**Well gee Tom, you could have had the idea to ask a woman about what a woman would want for Valentines Day."**_

_**He looked up to me. "Yeah…that makes sense." He cracked a smile.**_

"_**Right…well…every woman is different. And if you want to make a statement, it's not gonna be from Sears, I can tell you that right now." I led them both out of the store, putting the watch back in its rightful place.**_

"_**Alright. Now…Mina's a vampire. She's dark but lovely…shadowy yet proper. So something elegant like jewelry would suit her well I think, right?" I looked to Tom. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Something big that makes a statement…something that says 'You deserve the best and this is perfect for your graceful beauty', but not 'I'm gonna spoil you like crazy with jewels'. The jewel should be dark…like ruby. Yes! Ruby…red like blood. It's perfect! C'mon! Let's get to the nearest jewelry store."**_

_**I ran inside the nearest **_**Jared **_**and scanned the glass cases. I spotted the most perfect ruby necklace for Mina. Its design was thick and draping…surely divine for one such as herself. I was proud to call myself a help for Tom. **_

"_**There…that one right there." I pointed to the large ruby necklace shining behind the glass. The man behind the counter stared intently at his possible customer. **_

"_**Alisha…" Tom rushed up to me and started to shake his head. "Are you kidding? I can't afford something like that!" **_

_**I pursed my lips, thinking of the possibilities. I turned to the man behind the counter. **_

"_**Excuse me sir, what would be the price of this divine ruby necklace, here?"**_

"_**Oh…interested in that piece, are you? Our queen ruby collar comes to be one thousand dollars this evening."**_

_**I gulped slightly…Tom cleared his throat loudly.**_

"_**Thank you. Will you give us a minute?" I smiled sweetly to the man.**_

"_**Of course." He walked away to another customer.**_

_**I turned my heels to Tom's 'I-told-you-so' face, and Rodney's 'Leave-me-out-of-it' expression.**_

"_**Alright we have two options." I said very quickly. "Number one…" I slowly turned my head to Rodney. It took few seconds for them to get the idea.**_

"_**Whoa! No way, Alisha, are you crazy? We can't have Rodney jack the thing!"**_

_**I looked at Rodney for a few more seconds before I figured it wasn't the best idea after all. **_

"_**Yeah you're right." I turned back to Tom, leaning back a bit on my heels. The man looked over to us with curious eyes.**_

"_**What's behind door number two?" Tom asked. "Is it legal?"**_

"_**I think so…" I was being completely serious, which gave Tom a warning.**_

"_**Oh, god. What does it involve?" **_

"_**Me, Rodney, and some equipment." **_

_**The two of them stared at me curiously. They didn't seem to get it. **_

"_**I can magically supply the equipment."**_

_**Their expressions didn't shift.**_

_**I sighed. "Come with me." Before we left the store, I shouted to the salesman, "Keep that thing up for sale for us, will 'ya?" The man nods a single nod.**_

_**I skit inside a store and hid behind the racks of clothing…changing through the transformation. I ran back out, bumping into Rodney and Tom. **_

"_**What's going on? What's this big idea of yours?" Tom impatiently asked.**_

"_**Come with me!" I continued, and jogged all around the mall until I found a large empty area, no contest cars, kiosks, or benches around. **_

"_**Alright. What are we?" I stopped to ask as they caught up.**_

"_**Uh…a lot of things."**_

"_**I mean the three of us, Henry, Mina, Nemo and Allan."**_

"_**The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?" **_

"_**Exactly!" **_

_**Neither of them got the idea.**_

"_**Ugh. Look. If you were a normal person shopping in the mall, wouldn't you pay money to…"**_

"_**To see an extraordinary show…I see now." Tom's voice was half interested, half exhausted. **_

"_**I don't know about that, Alisha. Exposing us is a big deal…even if it'll get Mina a nice Valentines Day gift." **_

"_**People here think of these things as 'magic shows'. Nothing will happen. I promise."**_

_**Tom gave a very long, very slow sigh. "Fine." He said stubbornly. **_

"_**Great!" With that, I turned my heels and walked to our new 'center stage'. With a swift snap, a microphone appeared in my hand. I tossed it to Tom, and he caught it clumsily. I signaled for Rodney to come join me. As soon as Tom turned on the switch, I snapped my fingers once more, speakers appearing all around us.**_

"_**Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention." Tom's voice boomed through the area. Almost everyone turned their heads in response to the sudden noise.**_

"_**Uh…may I introduce to you the amazing invisible man and his assistant, the beautiful and majestic Ms. Dover!" He waved his arm to us.**_

_**Assistant?**_

_**Rodney began to undress himself, the crowd roaring with whispers and amazement as invisible flesh was shown…or not shown for that matter.**_

_**Once Rodney was fully invisible, the crowd roared as he picked me up and I rose above the ground magically. Tom held out his brown sheepskin hat and people began to fill it up immediately with several twenties and fifties. As Rodney threw me up in the air, I flipped forward, landing on the ground. Rodney put his coat back on, showing the audience the actuality of their sight. **_

_**For about a half hour Rodney and I impressed the stunned and diverted crowd with our extraordinary abilities while Tom received loads of cash. I did many a flips and impressive magic, moving and appearing several objects. I raised my body above the ground several feet, and Rodney continued to move things around him being completely invisible. **_

_**It wasn't long before the cops arrived.**_

_**They appeared through the crowd, pushing their selves past the mobs of cheers. Tom's face lit up with fear, grabbing on to the money and running to warn us.**_

"_**Time to go!" he shouted over everyone's cheers and shouts. As soon as we realized the dilemma, I lowered myself down, Rodney grabbed his clothes, and we jolted off in escape. Three mall cops chased after us; however we seemed to be faster than them, so they were a bit far from us.**_

_**We were halfway out the mall when an idea struck me. **_

"_**Tom…how much did we make?"**_

"_**Uh…" Tom gave the wad of money a glance with a confused look. Why would it matter now?**_

"_**Give it to me."**_

_**I took the money and counted as we ran. I could see the jewelry store up ahead…and I jolted in, surprising Tom and Rodney. Their expressions were hard and confused; eyebrows knit together and frowns slit on their faces. We walked in unseen by the cops; we seemed to have lost them by the outrun. **_

"_**Still have that necklace, sir?" I fast walked to that same man behind the counter, who looked up in revelation. **_

"_**Why yes…"**_

"_**We'd like to purchase it, please." **_

_**He was too slow for our pace. **_

_**He took the necklace out of the glass case as I hurriedly counted the money and signaled Tom and Rodney to hide within the store, straying away from the entrance. With the money we made and the money we had on us, luckily we had made the right amount, and even more. **_

_**He placed the necklace gently in a box, wrapped it in a bag, and had barely enough time to say "That will be a thousand dollars, please" before I cut him off, basically throwing the money at his face. **_

_**He counted the money easily, for there was quite an amount of high bills, handed us the receipt, and after looking both ways to see if the coast was clear, we dashed out of the doorway. However, a policeman spotted us from the second floor and signaled to all other policemen our whereabouts. We dashed through the halls and into Macy's, pushing people out of our way. I caught a glimpse of my mother standing there with shopping bags in her arms, and showing a horrified look as we passed her, evading out through the doors and into the parking lot. When we hid behind a building with no one to see us, I took out the portaleiver, and the three of us went through to the year 1900.**_

**---**

_**I stayed in the Nautilus on the night of Valentines Day. When I got inside my cabin, I was getting tired enough, basically ready to fall asleep. I was in my pajamas and about to crawl into bed when I noticed the many gifts waiting on my vanity. I got up with a huge grin on my face, making my way over to grasp the beautiful things before me. Placed on the center all the gifts lay a glass vase, holding a dozen fresh red roses. I smelt them, inhaling the lovely scent of romance. A card lay on the base of the vase. It said that they were from Rodney, if I hadn't guessed already. A rectangle wrapped in brown paper, and tied with string hid behind the roses. I opened it up, and realized it was from Nemo, being another type of journal or book it seemed. At first I didn't even see the yellow daffodils, my favorite flower, to the right of Rodney's vase. They lay there almost in a shy manner…not being a romantic or expensive gift, but enough to make me love them more than anything else I'd received. **_

_**And sure enough, they were from Henry. **_

_**You know it makes me think…that Rodney gave me roses…the more loving and traditional type of flower…but Henry gave me daffodils, when I'd never told him nor anybody that they were my favorite. So what's better? The dreamy romance or the happiness? Shouldn't the romance be happy? Or is that in its own category? **_

_**I think I was getting the feeling that it was. **_

_**Just then, I heard a knock at my door. Tom walked in with a shy look on his face and I greeted him with a smile as he handed me a small black velvet box. **_

"_**What's this?"**_

_**He looked up, giving a small grin.**_

"_**Something for helping me out." **_

_**I opened up the box, and inside were a pair of the most beautiful pair of earrings I've ever saw. Four petals of gorgeous silver with diamond and canary jewels suspended several thin strips of the same gems, glistening in every way with classy sparkles blinding my expression.**_

"_**Tom…they're beautiful! But how…"**_

"_**There was a little extra money left over from the eh…performance."**_

_**I looked at him blankly. "I thought I'd use it to buy you something nice for Valentines Day, as a thanks." **_

"_**Wow…thank you, Tom."**_

_**He smiled.**_

"_**Oh! So what did Mina say?"**_

_**Tom sighed. "I was about to give it to her, after I gave you your gift."**_

"_**Oh…well good luck." **_

"_**Thanks." **_

_**When Tom left, my mind whirled with wonder at the beautiful earrings and the flowers and Nemo's book…but more importantly I intently waited to know every detail of what happened with Tom and Mina. How much I wished I had Rodney's power, to spy on their actions unseen. But as much as I wanted to do it and probably could, I crawled into bed tiredly and fell asleep…feeling loved by a league. **_


	21. When Life Cheats

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_A message reached the Nautilus this morning, coming from the teacher we helped from my school; the one who almost got slaughtered by the Teneacherous member. Apparently Nemo and I successfully created a way to have messages from the other world arrive at the Nautilus, as a best way to reach us, the league. _

_She was getting married, and she wanted us to be there, as a thanks for saving her life._

_The wedding was in three days…a Saturday, and at a beautiful garden, outdoor type of place._

_Hm. We all agreed to go, and soon enough, time flew by and we were at the wedding. _

---

"Do you, Marion Riga, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"And do you, Joseph Kruger, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I most certainly do."

The blonde haired woman draped in white lace smiled sweetly.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The pastor beamed pleasantly as the groom leaned in, pressing his lips against the beautiful bride's'. Alisha smiled at the warm and lovely feel of romance around her, the charming sight under the archway draping with vines and flowers. The cool sound of the ocean played in the background; the breeze passing by her skin. The witch closed her eyes and breathed in, smelling the sweet salt. Rodney Skinner sat next to her, his arm barely around her chair. He never took his eyes off the ceremony, the view of the two in their glory. It almost seemed as if he thought the subject boring, or saddening. The rogue glanced over to the groomsmen, then over to the bridesmaids. One caught his eye…a fair skinned woman with dark brown eyes and crazy brown, frizzy curled hair. She eyed him intently with a smile, giving the invisible man a wink or two. Rodney Skinner raised his brow in return.

---

_The wedding reception was held at a marvelous hall at the edge of the town, and it was nearing the end of the night when I stepped out the back door, facing the busy railroad tracks and slightly foggy weather. A few people were outside, having a smoke or privately chatting with a companion or two. I spotted Tom by one of the benches near the railroad, and approached him with near curiosity, and chills from the cold that scraped along my skin. _

"_Hey Tom." _

"_Oh, hey Alisha."_

"_Hey, have you seen Rodney anywhere?" I couldn't find him at all in the hall, so I figured he must be out in the back, taking a smoke possibly. _

"_Um…yeah, actually. I think I saw him go down that way not too long ago." He pointed to the right, cascades of side buildings and stone. Even _looked_ cold._

_Alright. So maybe I'm not per say the best gal a guy can get…when it comes to Rodney, I'm guessing that whatever it is that he looks for in a relationship, I'm not supplying. Because what I saw down that alleyway, far from the corner of the bend of stone made my heart enrage, made my mind explode, and…most importantly…made me happy._

_I passed the fog, I passed the few that paced near the buildings, and I stopped when I peered down the alleyway. _

_Ok…so I don't know what triggered it. He could have been drunk and have no intention of what he was doing, he could be bored with me, I honestly don't know. And honestly, I didn't care. I think it was a little bit of both, really._

_Sitting against the stone wall was Rodney, invisible except for his hat, glasses, grease paint, open trench and boots (that, therefore leaves his sweater and pants), holding a bottle of barely empty white wine in one hand, and suspending the other around some frizzy haired woman's shoulders. Sickening shrieks kept coming from my mind._

_The frizzy haired woman…I believe her name was Jennifer, somebody mentioned before when introducing people…had one hand upon Rodney's groin and the other on his bare, invisible chest._

_Yet the only thing I didn't like about the situation was the exposure he had given out. And no…not that kind of exposure. The 'secret invisible man part of the league with extraordinary powers' kind of exposure. _

_They were both smiling, laughing and giggling…and I couldn't help but think the scene was funny, so I myself places my hands on my hips and shook my head with a huge grin on my face._

_When Rodney saw me just standing there, it was like a jolt of electricity had just stuck his memory…like he just realized that I, his 'closest to a girlfriend he's ever gonna get' still existed._

"_Alisha!" his voice matched his face…utterly shocked and full of unexplained guilt._

_I just simply raised my eyebrow while I enjoyed his attempt to make up an explanation, rising up from Jennifer's grasp with a pout upon her face. He swung the bottle of wine around; it almost looked like he was about to throw it up in the air. Rodney wasn't drunk…I knew that. A little tipsy, maybe…but still all so very conscious. _

"_I—I didn't know what I was thinking…I just…she approached me and I had a bit to drink and I let her…oh god…Alisha say something, please. Say anything! Are you mad? Don't be mad, I—"_

_I stopped him right there. This was my moment to shine._

"_Mad? Oh, no. I'm not mad…I'll get my revenge."_

_With that, I clicked my black high heels, and walked on, out of the alleyway, took out the portaleiver…_

_I could hear the music being played over and over again in my mind._

_Lead me the way, don't let me down…_

_Got to shape up, got to frown…_

_Show me the way, don't break my heart…_

"_W—where are you going? What's that supposed to mean? Look, I'm sorry!" I could tell Rodney got a little frightened by my tone of voice._

_I opened the portal, went through, and shut out the crazed voice of Rodney Skinner. _

_I ended up in the Nautilus. In the middle of the hall, not too far from my destination._

_When I say revenge, I really do mean it. But I wouldn't exactly call what I was about to do 'revenge'. _

_I frantically knocked on Henry's door, giving the illusion that something was wrong, or I was upset. He must have been murmuring through his pocket watch or something because he sounded startled, dare I say even teary. _

"_Come in!"_

_I hurriedly walked in on him, and he stood up from his bed…putting away his pocket watch. He seemed surprised to see me._

_I shut the door and turned to him, giving him a face of remorse._

"_Is everything alright?"_

_I paced around the room nervously, not really knowing what to say._

"_I—well, uh…something…something happened at the wedding…"_

"_What? What happened? Are you hurt? Did somebody attack you?" Henry placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me._

_Henry didn't go to the reception. Neither did Mina, Allan, or Nemo. I guess they didn't want to stray around, showing off their abnormal selves for the pathetic and uninformed era. _

"_No…I'm not hurt…nobody's hurt…even though Rodney will be…" I mumbled that last part under my breath._

"_Pardon?"_

"_Oh, nothing…it's just…I don't know…something happened and I just came straight to you. I thought maybe you could help me out with something?" _

"_Oh? What may that be?" _

_I looked him in the eye, and silence lasted between us for quite a while. After pursing my lips and pushing the bravery and chance out of my soul, I finally gave in._

"_With something I should have done a long time ago."_

_With that, I swiftly leaned in under Henry's face and pressed my lips against his, my hand rested against his shoulder. After the shock he got from the kiss died down after a few seconds, he slowly rested his hand upon my cheek._

_Then we heard a knock at the door._

"_Hey Henry, by any chance have you seen—"_

_We barely had time to break apart before Rodney opened the door and found us in each other's arms._

_He stood there, shifting his position onto his hip, and continuously yet very lightly nod his head, spreading a large grin on his face. He looked down, almost seeming to be laughing._

_He thought this was funny._

_He thought this was my idea of revenge._

_Oh no, but it wasn't. _

_This wasn't revenge at all._

_This was getting what I've wanted for the longest time possible._

_This is me getting control of my love life._

_But the worst was to come, if Rodney thought this was revenge._

_Oh, no…revenge was to surely come his way. _

_Or…maybe somebody else's. _


	22. A London Dream

Taken In Again

**Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already. **

**Henry Jekyll suffered as the horrid potion burned his throat. He turned red, and smoke fumed off his sweaty body. The old wooden floor released pain when coming in contact with his knees; splinters and exposed nails hit the doctor's flesh. In a matter of time, Edward Hyde appeared standing and heaving in the dark apartment of London.**

**Screams and shrieks came from the terrorized civilians of England's ruined city. It felt like almost yesterday when the Martians attacked London and the league fought them off.**

**From the viewpoint upon the rooftops, Alisha Dover watched intently as Edward passed screaming men, women and children, pushing them aside. The many lights from down below blinded her; streetlamps, shop lights, and others flashed onward, however any intentional blinding was caused to the witch, not the beast.**

**To try to catch up with Edward, Alisha followed on top of the rooftops, jumping from one to the other. How she could jump from rooftop to rooftop without difficulty she, nor did anybody else that noticed her, didn't know.**

**It was fast. It was Alisha and Edward, parallel to one another. Edward down below, Alisha on top.**

**Edward Hyde entered a warehouse, full of rustic metal and scraps of plastic and other material. Tearing everything in his way to shreds, he made his way to the top of the non-roofed building, once again, ruined by the Martians once before.**

**Edward jumped to the roof of a theatre, holding onto the decorative gargoyles in a 'King-Kong' like manner. The beast roared, and those of who was left in the locale (being far from the base of town and more in the less populated areas), shrieked in fright as they saw the two ton monster emerge from their views.**

"**Edward!" Alisha yelled at the top of her lungs from another rooftop. When the brute heard and recognized her voice, he stopped roaring, and stared into the icy blue eyes that glared through his skin.**

**Edward Hyde jumped two buildings, landing parallel to Alisha. The witch proceeded on her broomstick to meet the brute, and keep him from falling off the edge after callously transforming back into the small and meek form of Dr. Henry Jekyll.**

**---**

"**OH!"**

**Alisha woke up in her cabin, breathing heavily and looking around frantically. After realizing it was only a dream she had, the witch sighed, closed her eyes, and plopped back onto her bed…not realizing it was really more than just a dream.**


	23. Meet the Dovers

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

12 Years Later

It was once again Christmas time in December, however there has been many changes during the time in between. The league has been more distant than ever, less action came in their way, however peace isn't always the answer when it comes to people like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen…action was the very thing that had brought them together in the first place, and action would happen to be the very thing that _keeps_ them together.

During the many months, Mina and Allan became lovers. Rodney and Alisha kept their distances, and Tom ended up getting in-between them most of the time. Alisha and Henry became lovers as well, up until 2021, where Alisha finally caught up to her Wiccan age the league once knew, and leaving Henry her beloved fiancé.

A warm room full of reds, gold and greens, presents, decorations, the scent of lobster and fresh bread coming from the kitchen and mild chatter between family member to family member subsisted on the day of Christmas. It was the Dover family, halfway through their reunion, waiting for their dearly loved Alisha to arrive with her mysterious to-be husband.

As the small bells hanging atop the front door rang with enchantment and the rush of cold air came through, Alisha Dover and Henry Jekyll walked in. Alisha looked the same as her old witch self, and Henry looked most the same but slightly more elder, being by now almost at the age of 50. His hair was slightly greyer and his face showed more lines of stress from the beast that still lingered inside of him. The entire family eyed the elder doctor suspiciously, and then smiling at the view of their daughter, niece, cousin and granddaughter.

The couple made their way to the green velvet couch, sitting down and beaming to each other.

"You must be Henry! Nice to meet you…Alisha's told me so much about you."

Alisha's cousin shook hands with the doctor. She was a bit shorter than Alisha, with long, dark blonde wavy hair. She was very polite, despite the fact that Henry was very anxious and fidgety.

Many greetings passed to the doctor, from all family members and questions enraged through the room. After everything had died down, Alisha and Henry were alone. The witch noticed how restless Henry was becoming, and she knew everyone else did as well.

"Henry, what's wrong? Is it Ed or the family?"

"Edward."

"Ah."

"Alisha…I can't take it any longer. I need to let him out. It's unbearable."

"Well…as much as I understand the struggle…we're kind of surrounded by the family, here…"

"I know. But if only I can let him out for a bit… I promise he won't get into any trouble. I won't allow it. He knows better."

"I don't know, Henry…"

"Alisha, please. I cannot hold him any longer."

The witch got up, and told everyone they were to go outside and get some fresh air. Once they were outside the chilly night, Henry cautiously but greedily forced the potion down his throat, and Edward appeared, trying to be concealed as much as possible.

"A little stroll perhaps, Edward?"

"Yes…I believe that sounds nice."

The brute ran with force in one direction to the neighbor's house, climbed up the side with slight difficulty, and stood atop the roof.

"ED! What do you think you're doing?" Alisha enraged herself, looking around frantically to see if anyone saw them. The monster just stood there, smiling.

"Don't worry about it. I'm an expert at this!" he said, laughing. He thought he heard Alisha give a grunt.

"When will you be back?"

"As soon as the potion wears off, obviously."

"Be sure you don't leave Henry on top a two-story building…and half naked."

Edward Hyde chuckled. "I won't. There are some extra clothes in the car."

Alisha glanced at the automobile that once belonged to Captain Nemo. She slightly missed him.

"Fine." Alisha stormed back into the house as Edward jumped from rooftop to rooftop…it was nearing midnight.

A little girl inside her home abruptly shot her head to face the ceiling, hearing the thumping upon the rooftop.

"Santa!" The little girl extravagantly jumped up and down, running to get her mother.

_A bit later_

Alisha sighed as she walked out of the upstairs bathroom, and froze when she saw her family gathered around the television downstairs. She almost fainted when she saw what they were watching.

On live news, reporters followed 'The Mysterious Santa Monster' that was jumping from rooftop to rooftop in a beastly force, trying to outrun them.

"Oh…my…god. He was caught."

Alisha squinted to look over her relatives.

"Ugh. I knew this was going to happen."

The witch told her family she was going to go find Henry (who, she mentioned, just went out to take a stroll), ran to the automobile, grabbed her old broomstick from the back, and flew off in search of half of her soon-to-be-husband.

"Edward!"

Soon enough, the witch was flying over the monster, the reporters, the cops, and live exposure.

"Alisha! What are you doing? You'll expose yourself!"

"Yeah, well you've already managed to do that now, didn't you?"

Back inside the house, all of Alisha's relatives stood there, hanging their mouths wide open, viewing their own little innocent girl fly above the monster on a broomstick, communicating with it like they knew each other. Standing there, watching the scheme the two newlyweds were a part of, slit their hearts just a bit as they felt the sensation of hidden secrets and sin.


	24. Evolution

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

17 Years Later

A 66 year old Henry Jekyll slightly paced in a good quality, modern looking home in the town of London. The elder doctor looked quite good for his age; a little less angst than his past self…he seemed to be more at peace. The weather was good outside…not rainy or foggy, but not quite sunny either. The time was nearing 1:00p.m. Just then, a ring was heard at the door. Henry looked up, quite confused.

"Now who could that be…?"

When Henry opened the door, it took him a second or two to realize who was standing at his front stoop, for he had almost nearly forgotten what his past wife looked like, having to be grown to 44 years old. After their separation due to the complications of Hyde, he never thought he would see her again.

"Alisha?"

The witch simply smiled, looking up to Henry's eyes like she first did at the German ball.

"I—I…" Henry didn't know what to say. Instead, Alisha walked in the house, and Henry closed the door.

They immediately came to a warming embrace, enclosing all the memories of their past.

When Henry let go, he quickly looked to the back door, then to the clock.

"Emily's going to be home soon."

---

A teenager of about 16, with medium, light blonde wavy hair resembling her mother, and a deep hazel eye like her father walked in through the door, placed her books on the kitchen table, took off her coat, and called to her father.

"Dad, I'm home!"

The Victorian teen girl walked through her kitchen and found her father, Henry Jekyll, seated next to a familiar looking woman, both drinking tea.

"Oh, hello. Who may this be?" Emily's English accent showed the curiosity that swarm in her mind.

"Emily…" Dr. Jekyll started. "There's something we have to tell you."

Emily stood there, waiting for the surprise of her life.

"This…" Henry found it hard to speak the words. "This is Alisha. She's your birth mother."

Emily Jekyll stood there, frozen, with teary eyes.

"What?"

Alisha smiled, tightening her grip on the tea cup. Her daughter didn't know anything of her mother being a beautiful witch, nor did she even know of her father being a monster. Not once did Henry Jekyll mention anything of the league.

"We have…much to talk about." said Alisha. Emily looked at her, then to her father, and ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her. They could both hear the sobs as Emily Jekyll hit the bed.

Alisha nod her head. "I think that went well." Henry shook his head with a sigh.

About an hour later, Emily came out of her room, meeting her parents standing in the middle of the room and waiting for her.

Trying to hold back her tears, Emily came and sat on the couch, followed by Alisha and Henry.

"So…are you from America?" Emily made an attempt to start a conversation with her mother. "Your accent isn't English. It seems to be American."

"Mm…I'm a lot more than American." The witch said under her breath. She gave a slight chuckle. "I cannot believe you kept everything from her, Henry."

The doctor sighed. "What could I have said?"

Emily seemed to be confused. Alisha sighed in return. "Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Emily slightly nod her head.

"Hm…well lets see…do you ever notice your father mumbling to himself a lot or seeming to be quite angsty for no reason?"

Emily remembered the many times where she would press her ear against her fathers door, listening to the frightening arguments with himself, and even the time when he barked at her for no reason, after catching him at a bad time during his frustration.

"Well, yeah…but what does that…?"

Alisha raised her finger. "Ok. Well, Henry and I first met at a ball in Germany. We were dance partners. Quite shortly after the ball there had been an accident. Some street thugs attempted an attack on your father, however I was lucky enough to be there and take them out."

Henry picked it up. "I woke several hours later with no memory of the thugs, for they had rendered me unconscious. I ended up in your mother's house, where she helped heal my wounds and bring me back to my normal state. Now, during that time, I was a part of this organization. Maybe you've heard of it…the LXG, or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen…no? No, I wouldn't expect you to hear of it. We were a secret organization of Military Intelligence section 5, or MI5."

When Emily heard this, she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You were part of a secret military organization?" Henry nod his head. "It consisted originally of seven members, however on a operation previous to the event two members weren't able to move on and became terminated along with the mission. After that, Alisha joined, and we all ended up traveling the world, fighting against numerous enemies, and at the end, falling in love and having you." Henry smiled at his innocent and lovely daughter.

"Ahh…but there's more!" Alisha kicked in. "Could you see the father you've known for all these years in a secret military organization? No, probably not, right?"

Emily looked to her father, and nod her head. Henry shifted his position near to his daughter, and begun to speak.

"We all have special abilities. Your mother and I, and the league members. We split up many years ago, before your birth. Because of our…abilities, your mother and I found it difficult to sustain a family and to raise you. We had to be separated, due to the complications we found within each other."

Emily looked uneasy, trying not to remember the times where she wished she had, or even knew of her own mother.

"Do you believe in magic, Emily?" Alisha asked. Emily squinted her eyes, attempting to find out where the conversation was leading.

Alisha raised her hand, snapped her fingers in one quick motion, and suddenly thousands of tiny little sparks of light and glitter surrounded the room. They swirled around the witch, then to Emily. It was like fairies flying round in circles, spreading the magic. Emily was amazed at the beautiful sight.

"My…"

"I'm a witch, Emily. However my powers and what I do isn't nearly as innocent as something simple like this may seem. And your father, on the other hand…"

Henry cleared his throat, and Emily turned to meet her fathers gaze as the lights disappeared.

"Well…it's not quite easy to explain, so I suppose I'll start from the beginning. After my father, your grandfather's death, I devoted my life learning the very basis of the good and evil personas of the typical human. I obsessed on research studying the two sides, and dreamed of a way to separate the good and evil in man, and to dispose of the evil. To make a man perfectly good and not corrupt in any way. I thought I had created the exact formula for that manner when I used myself as a guinea pig, and drank it myself. Thus I instead created a separate persona altogether. His name is Mr. Edward Hyde, being the evil brute inside myself. The one I see when I look to my reflection, the one that appears when I drink the formula, the one I argue with inside my mind. He is a monster…a true and evil brute that terrorizes all who sees him. He has done every evil a man can do, and I did everything in my soul for him not to do the same to you."

It took a while before Emily could process the information. "Um…"

"And if you don't believe him, you could always see…" Alisha turned her head to Henry, inquiring for him to show her Hyde.

"Alisha, I couldn't! Hyde may hurt her!"

"He wont. Not while I'm here to protect her."

"But after all the years…he has gotten much bigger, and severely stronger."

"So have I grown to be more powerful. And Emily is grown enough to know of her half-father."

After a few minutes of telepathically arguing with Alisha and with Edward, obviously, Henry gave a sigh, went to his room, and brought back with him a locked case. The doctor got up, and went to a squeaky spot on the floor, walking in strange ways to find the spot. Bending down, Henry Jekyll pushed on one side of the wooden floor, and a board bent upwards. Henry felt underneath the spot, and took out and old rustic key. Hesitating for a moment, he placed the floorboard back in its rightful place, walked back over to the box, opened it, and recognized the familiar face on the small metal plate on the latch. Inside lay the deadly yet recognizable potions of his past.

With a very long and regretful sigh, Henry forced down the potion, and the transformation had begun after a second or two.

It was different than Alisha had remembered, for Edward had indeed turned out to be bigger and stronger. But as usual, she was not afraid. She never was. She still loved Hyde, no matter what, and held frightened Emily in her arms as she looked half of her husband in the eye.

"Nice to see you again, Ed."

Edward Hyde gave Alisha a single nod, trying to be as calm as possible. As evil as he was, he also knew of how powerful Alisha was and how hard of a match it would have been if he chose to face her, choosing Emily as his target. However something even in the brute's heart warmed as he saw face to face his own little daughter.

"Hello." Edward's voice was warm, opposing his gigantic size that almost crashed through the ceiling if it wasn't for his hunchback. Emily's eyes widened as much as they could go, seeing the father she knew for all her life become, or possible even be replaced by this…this…this monster!

***

_The face of my future daughter haunted my mind as I viewed her through my physic vision, foreseeing the event of the future. The entire picture of marrying Henry and being exposed to my family, and having a daughter growing up with no mother due to…"complications" Henry and I had slightly angered me. I got up from where I lay down in my room, and opened the door to the Nautilus halls. This was no future I had dreamed of, and I was going to change it._


	25. Forever

**Taken In Again**

Disclaimer: It's a fan fiction, what do you expect? I own whatever wasn't invented already.

_Memories. Good or bad, they make up everything that I am. Everything that I was. My mind flooded with them, ever since I first danced with Henry at the ball up to my visions of our future, and everything in-between. My relations with Rodney. My friendship with Tom, and Nemo. My temporary dislike for Mina, and my failed attempt to cast that spell. The Martians and the Teneacherous. I sat there, memorizing every tiny little detail of my past life. My past of life as a teenager…escaping my world and creating my own. But no matter what it was that I tried to do, what I did as I weaseled myself into a getaway, it was only an escape. It wasn't a life at all. It was a fantasy and nothing else, I know that now for sure. This is my life…right here, right now. _

_Then why am I sitting down at a bar inside one of the club's in New York City, asking the bartender for another sherry? I had already blocked out the noise to remember my past, and just sitting there, I'm sure I wasn't looking or feeling too glum! I wasn't much of a drinker, then or now, but all I know is that my future hasn't been bright. The league did separate, I didn't end up marrying Henry (for we did go our ways when the league broke up), and we never had a child. More importantly, my family never found out about my alternate world. That was something I never intended for them to find out, and I never do. The one thing that really lingered in my mind were the entire thing altogether. The friends, the enemies and the fights, the family feel I got from the league, the relationships with Henry, and for the most part Rodney. I knew I would never forget the memories. Like I said, they shaped who I was. But sometimes, on nights like this, when my actual 'teen self' grew up, and now I really am that 27 year old witch the league knew for so long. By living that alternate universe I've come to realize that I made the alternate world because I felt my life was boring, and I needed a little action or drama. My powers never really were real. They were more of a mirage, or an illusion. I dare to even use them now, having locked up every piece of my Wiccan existence. I believe that life, living with the league had taught me that action can be from any life. It was then, a waste to be living two. I was to live my teen years with my friends, my family, my peers and teachers…but more importantly alone, with the satisfaction. So I live now, alone, trying to fit in the world in my own apartment, with my own friends, my own job, and so on._

_The bar felt nice and smooth as I ran my finger against the red marble edge. I closed my eyes, trying not to be blinded by the dim party lights all over the room. Ironically just then, I heard the song "Forever" being played by Chris Brown. I sighed quite loudly. My best friend, who was sitting next to me, asked why I looked so sad. I gave a chuckle._

"_I love this song. And there's no one to dance with." _

_I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I believe I was dumbstruck. There, standing and beaming from being in front of the lights, stood the very pale, strangely dressed, elder and familiar figure of Rodney Skinner. My mouth hung open as far as it could go, for a very long time I would think. The music seemed to fade. This whole night was beginning to be very ironic._

…_so much for forgetting the past._

_He let out his hand, I took it, and he led me to the mass of people on the dance floor. _

_We danced, turning and twisting our bodies to the rhythm of the music. Rodney put his hand on my hip as I rested my palm on his shoulder. I hadn't thought I remembered how to dance, or even have the feel. But, as the night preceded, back and forth our hips and shoulders went, experience the sensation of the music. And it went on for the entire three minutes, it only feeling nearly even one minute. Eh, you know what they say…time flies when you're having fun. _

_The bridge came up, where Chris is all, "I won't let you fall…" Rodney seemed to near closer towards me. The song ended with Rodney leaning in slowly to kiss my lips for the very last time. _

_And forever on the dance floor it was, with a night such as this. Forever it was, the memories I would never forget. Forever it was, for my life to be recognized as the witch, the one who was a part of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The one who was taken in again. _

~~~~~*****~~~~~

Alisha Dover, a teenager with wet, golden blonde hair pulled back by a white fuzzy headband, and grey-blue eyes, wearing polka dot pajama pants, a dull blue sweatshirt, and grey socks typed on her black Dell laptop very quickly, making a frantic tapping noise as her fingers hit the keyboard. At frequent times she would take a sip of her tea, gripping the mug loosely…obviously devoted to her keyboard, and her eyes never leaving the screen.

The desk was large and white, and clattered with several items and books. There was hardly any room for anything.

After hysterically typing for minutes, Alisha finally stopped, and rested back in her chair. She took one final long sip of her tea. She sighed.

"That's it. I finally finished Taken In Again." Alisha shook her head, smiling.

"Escape." she said. "What is it with escape? Well, I believe I learned like Alisha, no escape is ever necessary, however exciting it may sound." She then chuckled. "Be careful what you wish for, Alisha." As the exhausted teenager turned to get out of her seat, she saw as the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stood there, looking at her with smiles upon their faces. The Alisha they were written to know shined familiarly in the eyes of the writer. And in the eyes of the writer…well…obsession is something that can never easily go away.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the league was gone.


End file.
